Movie review: "Stop-Loss" (2008)

The gist: Film-maker Kimberly Pierce presents us with a new horror from the American side of the Iraq War. Under the stop-loss policy, a soldier can be ordered to continue active duty beyond the time when their contract was meant to have ended.

Selling points: A great turn from Ryan Phillippe as a young Texan who volunteers to fight, does it bloody well, witnesses as much death as he can handle, thinks his job's over after the medals and homecoming parade, then gets stop-lossed back to the front. This is contrasted with the plight of his mate, who can't live without the army but finds himself discharged because of behavioural problems stemming from his shocking experiences.

It's kinda like: The difficulty King (Phillippe) and his battle-scarred men have readjusting to society parallels aspects of "In The Valley Of Elah". Interspersed handicam footage supposedly taken by the soldiers injects an MTV feel (in fact, the cable channel produced "Stop-Loss").

Final word: Dishonourably drafting blokes who've done their duty?

[Australian cinema release date: August 7]