YMMV / Stop-Loss

• Alternate Aesop Interpretation: Viewers can't decide whether this film is condemning the stop-loss policy or not. The film could be less about trying to fight a questionable system, and more about choosing the best possible option - even when the options one is presented with don't seem that great.
• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • With regards to Tommy's wife Jeannie, as she's offscreen for most of the film. She throws Tommy out and slaps him with a restraining order. As Tommy is shown to have a violent temper when a man hits on her, there's the possibility that something nasty happened behind closed doors. On the other, there's no actual physical evidence for that and it could be seen as Disproportionate Retribution. The locals are seen struggling to relate to the soldiers who are broken by their experiences, and it's possible that Jeannie just didn't want to deal with it - rather than attempting to be a supporting wife and help her husband through this. Her expression at Tommy's funeral suggests she feels partly responsible.
  • While the stop-loss process is understandably traumatic for Brandon, his reaction can seem a bit extreme. The stop-loss policy is always included on a contract and the soldiers know that it can happen - so Brandon could have at least anticipated that it might happen, especially as he's a decorated soldier. That still doesn't make him any less of a Woobie though.
  • Brandon keeps putting off going to DC to meet with the senator - detouring to visit Preacher's family. Does he think that he is better off going back to Iraq to be a leader to his men? At this point he knows that Tommy is going out of control without him there - so maybe subconsciously he's slowing himself down from appealing to the senator.
  • LTC Boot is very lenient with Brandon - offering to not press any charges as long as he turns himself in soon. Does he sympathise with Brandon and is trying to help him out as best he can (as an earlier scene shows him to be somewhat of a Reasonable Authority Figure)? Or is it more out of pragmatism - because Brandon is a good soldier and they need him out in the field?
  • Steve re-enlists to join sniper school. Is it because he thinks he can't adjust to civilian life again? Or does he fear that he might get stop-lossed too and that re-enlisting voluntarily is at least preferable to getting forced back?
• Award Snub: Believe it or not, there was a little talk about Channing Tatum potentially getting a Best Supporting Actor nomination. The film ultimately went without any nominations.
• Best Known for the Fanservice: The scene the movie is most remembered for seems to be the one of a sleepwalking Steve digging a foxhole in his front garden - while in his boxers and all sweaty.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Boot gives the men the run-down for their weekend leave - do not drink and drive, do not beat up civilians, do not sleep with anyone underage, do not beat your wife or shoot your dog. Darkly hilarious that the soldiers end up doing several of those things - the only ones not checked off are sleeping with underage girls and shooting the dog.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Mamie Gummer has a small role as Tommy's wife Jeannie, who throws him out. In real life, Mamie Gummer got married very young and it fell apart quickly - something her character in Ricki and the Flash also experiences. Tommy also kills himself, something Mamie's character Julie in the latter film attempts after the failure of her marriage. Additionally Channing Tatum would split up with his wife in 2018, although by all accounts that was an amicable split as opposed to Michelle angrily calling off the engagement.
  • Brandon is the one who helps Michelle after Steve has a PTSD episode and injures her, as well as consoling the violent Tommy. That's rather uncomfortable in light of Ryan Phillippe's numerous abuse and assault allegations from his exes. And of course the sequence of Brandon nearly killing a bunch of civilians.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Brandon and Michelle's visit to Rico provides some much needed levity to the story. Rico is maintaining a positive attitude about his situation and learning to live with his condition - not to mention not holding any ill-will against Brandon.
  "It's okay. You did save me. I'm right here, aren't I?"
  • One of the cutest moments is when he teases Brandon about bringing Michelle along. The two then playfully sing the "Jody Got Your Girl" cadence.
• He Really Can Act:
  • Ryan Phillippe had been slowly winning critical acclaim since transitioning out his roles in 90s teen movies - but he was really heaped with praise for his layered and gritty portrayal of a Shell-Shocked Veteran. Kimberly Peirce herself disliked his casting at first, but warmed to him as filming went on.
  • Channing Tatum got this big time, if one looks at Award Snub above. When critics started heaping praise on him for Foxcatcher, fans of this film were saying "I told you so."
  • At the time, Joseph Gordon Levitt was still trying to shake off his image as a teen heartthrob from 3rd Rock from the Sun. He had already got there with Brick but this was before his Career Resurrection with (500) Days of Summer - so many were still blown away. To this day, many still call his the best performance in the film.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Abbie Cornish says she can't be the wife of a soldier. Fast forward to Sucker Punch where she's imagined herself as a soldier. In both films she's still the Only Sane Man of the group. Not to mention in that film she has a brief bit of Ship Tease with a male soldier.
  • During the scene where Brandon is arguing with Boot, there's a line that says "the President trumps you on this matter..."
• Ho Yay: This is a Channing Tatum movie and there is indeed rather a lot of sexual tension between Steve and Brandon, particularly in the climactic fight in the graveyard. It leads to them shouting insults at each other and both of them end up crying by the end of the scene. If Steve's fiancee wasn't a major character, it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility to assume that Steve's really annoyed at his lover walking out on him.
• Iron Woobie: Brandon is on the verge of falling apart and very nearly crosses the Despair Event Horizon several times. But he presses on with looking forward to the future. He chooses to go through with his term, implying that he'll maintain this attitude to get him through the war.
• Narm: Michelle's rather oddly specific line about how she can't go another year without "having Steve touch my face".
• Nightmare Fuel: Some of Brandon's visions of what Iraq was like are incredibly unnerving. Especially when he snaps and holds up a group of would-be carjackers at gunpoint.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Timothy Olyphant appears in just two scenes, but makes a huge impression.
  • Mamie Gummer only really gets character focus in Tommy's funeral scene but damn if she doesn't make it memorable.
  • Victor Rasuk has one major sequence in the middle of the film, where Brandon and Michelle visit him in the hospital. His attitude as The Pollyanna and providing one of the bigger Heartwarming Moments in an otherwise sobering film, make him quite memorable.
• Paranoia Fuel: You're at the end of your term in the army. You've survived the horrors of the war, and think you're about to get home. But a loophole in your contract says you have to go back and serve even more time. And from the perspective of the other guys in the unit, they don't know who else may get it.
• Platonic Writing, Romantic Reading: The bond between Brandon and Michelle is platonic and for most of the film feels this way, except for the sequence where he visits Rico. He teases Brandon about it, which makes Brandon get a little Adorkable, and gives off the impression that there might be something between them. It's not helped by Brandon dancing with Michelle at the party, when Steve isn't able to. Ryan Phillippe and Abbie Cornish dated, so that accounts for the chemistry between them. Some scenes in the trailer but not the finished film shows them seemingly about to kiss, suggesting their relationship was initially supposed to be romantic.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Tommy's death and the eventual fight after the funeral between Steve and Brandon. It's clear that they're both horribly affected by the loss, and Steve doesn't know what to do without his friend there.
  • The revelation that Brandon and Steve had to gun down a man who was holding his young son. That is what haunts Brandon the most, in addition to everyone else he's lost.
  • Brandon visiting Preacher's parents is tear jerking in a low-key way. Despite the circumstances, the parents thank him for coming and acknowledge how hard it must have been.
  • Brandon packing away Tommy's uniform after his death. He sees his cup, which has a dent (presumably from a bullet) in it and collapses crying.
  • The "I'm done with killing" scene, where Brandon is on the verge of breaking down as he tries to tell Michelle about his experiences in Iraq.
  "I'm afraid if I tell you these things, you're gonna think differently of me. I couldn't stand that."
• Tough Act to Follow:
  • Some critics felt that the film couldn't live up to stronger Iraq war movies that had already been released. Others felt the opposite - one noting that after the disappointing Lions for Lambs, Rendition and Redacted, this one "has the juice to break the jinx".
  • This was Kimberly Peirce's follow-up to the hit that was Boys Don't Cry. While still well-received, it got considerably less awards love than the former and flopped at the Box Office.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Despite the nature of their relationship being left open (see above), it's very hard to give Jeannie much sympathy. Although she and Tommy have problems, her response is to slap him with a restraining order - which she does after only one weekend. As there's nothing in the film that outright says Tommy's abusive, she comes across as incredibly callous to his emotional needs. He's just a kid who's been scarred by his experiences, and she's his wife, yet she doesn't even seem like she tries to be supportive at all. This is in stark contrast to Michelle who, when things get awkward with Steve, calls Brandon for help to make sure things don't get worse. There is a brief scene where Michelle is on the phone to Jeannie who says Tommy came to her work drunk - but it's not drawn attention to much and easy to miss.
• Unintentional Period Piece: Obviously set towards the tail end of the Iraq War, shortly before Barack Obama became President, there are also other little things that mark the movie as a late 2000s piece. For one, when Brandon is protesting against being sent back, Boot asks "do you have extenuating circumstances? You gay or pregnant?" - referencing the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy that existed in the army from 1994 to 2011, which prevented discrimination against closeted members of the military, while barring openly gay applicants. The soldiers also make their home movies with video cameras and Brandon has to use a payphone at one point.
• The Woobie:
  • Steve thinks of himself as the Dumb Muscle and ultimately re-enlists and joins sniper school because he honestly can't see any other purpose in life. This drives a huge wedge between him and Michelle. That's not to mention that he has to deal with all the Tommy drama since Brandon is AWOL.
  • Tommy of course is affected by the war the worst. He's constantly drunk when he's on leave, his wife ultimately getting a restraining order against him. His behaviour results in a discharge and he kills himself because he feels he has no other prospects.