KIMBERLY PEIRCE IS BACK IN THE HOUSE

Just got back from seeing STOP-LOSS. Excellent film. Much better than I thought it would be overall, and I went in expecting something of quality. Ryan Philippe delivers a career best performance and Chris Menges' impressionistic cinematography was downright hypnotic at times. Co-writer/director Kimberly Peirce's film is an angry, passionate, and confident piece of storytelling and while it may not be perfect, there is an honest, inherent intelligence at its core. As overtly anti-Bush/current administration as any of the recent Iraq war films to come out of Hollywood, STOP-LOSS is a film with a distinct political agenda, but Peirce's message transcends politics and gets at something deeply human. How anyone could agree with the idea of "stop-lossing" a soldier is just beyond me. STOP-LOSS is an important film and the best film so far dealing with our current situation in the middle east. My full review will be posted soon. This is a film that I need to digest.