Spoiler Points for Stop-Loss (2008)

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Spoiler Points for Stop-Loss (2008) [R] 113 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.00
DVD Release Date: 8 July 2008 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer

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Click to read the non-spoiler review

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Click to see photos from the Premiere of Stop-Loss

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Spoiler Points for Stop-Loss
• During a mission that turns out to be an ambush, Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) and Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum) lose the lives of a few men while others in their troop sustain life-changing injuries. In particular, Al 'Preacher' Colson (Terry Quay) is killed.
• While their return is hailed by their small Texas hometown, King and Shriver immediately display the signs of battle fatigue and post-traumatic stress syndrome as does their troop-mate Tommy Burgess (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the latter two of which immediately take to the bottle to deaden their pain.
• When King is stop-lossed, he decides to go AWOL rather than go back and face his previous failures for letting his men down. His decision, fractures his friendship with both Shriver and Burgess.
• Shriver becomes abusive to his girlfriend, Michelle (Abbie Cornish) who flees to be with King as her protector. Their relationship grows to the point of emotional infidelity if nothing else, causing Shriver to lose it.
• King and Michelle flee to try and find out how to start a better life, but it seems that only defection to another country will free him from his obligation to return to war. King himself discovers the horrifying impact the war has had on him when a gang of thugs steal the radio from Michelle's parked car. He chases the men down and eventually shoots one in the back of the head reverting mentally to his military training and perceiving the men to be his mortal enemy. Michelle manages to shake him back in to reality for a time just long enough to realize the error and crimes for now which he is responsible. The eventual ramifications of this crime are never resolved effectively in the film. In effect, he gets away with murder.
• Shortly thereafter, Tommy Burgess commits suicide rather than face his own crimes and demons.
• This prompts King to abandon his defection plans and rather return to Texas for the funeral.
• Eventually, King gives up his plans and accepts his place. He and Shriver go off on another tour of duty with the damage of the second being 'undone' by his re-commitment to the army.