Stop-Loss 6.5

Well intentioned, I’m told, but rather disappointing. I couldn’t figure out who was who for the first 20 minutes, then after that, nothing made much sense. The battle in Iraq was well filmed but made no tactical sense: why would this platoon of Marines follow a racing car of bad guys into their neighborhood street, then go door-to-door, not knowing what they were looking for, unless it was someone with a gun pointed at them? And then, we knew from the start that Sgt. Brandon’s trip to D.C. was hopeless; so we weren’t much interested in that outcome. About the only suspense I found was whether Brandon and the engaging Abbie Cornish would sleep with each other – and I was disappointed there, too. And what was Ciaran Hinds doing as Brandon’s Texan father? (cf. Depardieu, pere et fils.) I doubt this movie will have the impact, or social relevance, of the films it’s being compared to in the reviews. And where was the “moral ambiguity” one reviewer lauded?