The public hasn't been swarming to see Iraq-war themed dramas, so it's doubtful that director Kimberly Peirce ("Boys Don't Cry") is going to break that pattern with "Stop-Loss." That's a shame, because this intense, intimate small-town saga will hit home for anyone who knows a casualty, veteran or relative of this five-year-old conflict. Ryan Philippe (Flags of Our Fathers, Breach) is stellar as a platoon leader who survives a harrowing, deadly skirmish just before his tour of duty ends and he returns to his tiny Texas hometown. The film's opening act depicts the traumatic ambush and its painful aftermath. Then comes another kick in the gut: The Army's "stop-loss" policy means soldiers can be sent back to Iraq even after their contracted service is over. Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt match Philippe's emotional levels as his fellow veterans, each traumatized and conflicted in his own way.
While the filmmaker clearly despises the stop-loss policy and the effects of post-traumatic stress, she doesn't turn the film into an antiwar or anti-government diatribe. This is a more personal, passionate and thoughtful effort than that. We give it a B.