Home > Blogs > Sir Critic on Cinema > Archives > 2008 > March > 27 > Entry
Can an ‘Iraq war’ movie succeed at the box office?
Friday sees the release of Stop Loss, the latest movie to deal with the struggles of the Iraq war. In this one, Ryan Phillippe plays a soldier who comes home from Iraq, only to find himself subjected to the “stop loss” policy that requires soldiers to remain in service. Of course, Philippe’s character doesn’t want to go back.
The question is, will audiences go to this movie? Does Stop Loss sound like something you’d want to see?
If recent history is any indication, the answer will be no. One after another, movies about Iraq or the war on terror have been greeted with yawns if not turned-up noses. In the Valley of Elah. Rendition. Lions for Lambs. These movies are filled with A-list talent, but they’re getting C- and D-list returns. Even films given a limited release like Grace is Gone and Redacted haven’t haven’t made much of a dent in their particular spheres.
Why is this? The easy answer is that the “I just want to be entertained” crowd couldn’t be paid to see these movies in a theater. “We get enough of that on the news,” they say. “We want the movies for escape. Where’s that copy of Transformers?”
Now don’t misunderstand me. This isn’t a rant that cries “Why are you seeing these bubble-gum movies instead of movies about the REAL world?” I think there’s more to it than the fact that people just want to be entertained. There’s also the consensus that the great Iraq war movie hasn’t been made.
By contrast, take the two movies that dealt with Sept. 11 itself, United 93 and World Trade Center. Both received good to great reviews. United 93 made $31.4 million, which is impressive considering how uncommercial it was. World Trade Center made $70.2 million.
Now, consider the other movies: Lions for Lambs, $15 million. Rendition, $9.7 million. In the Valley of Elah, $6.7 million. Reviews of these films were generally mixed.
At the rate things are going, the studios might as well send the film prints over to the military for use as ammunition. Paramount is trying to sell Stop Loss to teens and 20-somethings via the young cast and the MTV Films banner, but I don’t see the film breaking the trend of fire in the box office hole. My guess is the movie will be best known in the popular imagination as the film that broke up Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon, because of the rumored dalliance between Phillippe and Stop Loss co-star Abbie Cornish.
Director Kimberly Pierce says that her film isn’t so much an Iraq war movie as it is about “coming home.” OK, but one could make the same argument about In the Valley of Elah and it made the least money out of all the films that got a wide release. And it was probably the best reviewed film of the lot.
So will you see Stop Loss? Or any other film dealing with Iraq/9-11? Would you go if the reviews were great? Or would you even check them out on DVD?
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Moviegoing
Comments
By SRCputt
March 28, 2008 9:59 AM | Link to this
With Vietnam, a sense of distance was needed. With WWII, it wasn’t. The Best Years of Our Lives, a very strong and realistic portrayal of the struggles of the soldiers returning home, came out in 1946. I think the difference is that with WWII was a sense that the country was unified in the cause, something missing with both Vietnam and Iraq. I’ll be surprised if Stop Loss earns half of what 21, a solid “fun” movie, does at the box office.By Kim
March 28, 2008 9:12 AM | Link to this
Hmmm- well - I have to say - I’ve seen nothing on the trailers that has given me the faintest desire to see it. I don’t need to always watch “feel good” movies, though with life’s current stress levels I certainly prefer it - but I just don’t see anything about this movie that looks remotely entertaining or thought provoking. It has to be worth my time to sit through. And I think Kelle is right - it may work better later - most of the great war movies were made after the conflict - not in the thick of it. I’ll be curious to hear your review!By margo
March 27, 2008 5:10 PM | Link to this
I have a hunch Stop Loss may be the one to do well at the box office.By Todd
March 27, 2008 3:31 PM | Link to this
The truth hurts. It hurts so bad that we don’t even want to watch it on the news, so they have stopped delivering it with any regularity. Hollywood wants to deliver the truth and make a dime while doing so. We don’t want to own the disaster that is Iraq. Future generations will have to make the bad dream a reality.By Kelle
March 27, 2008 1:14 PM | Link to this
I could be wrong here but I think films about the Iraq war won’t be popular until years after the war is over. The WWII and Vietnam era movies in my opinion came long enough after the wars were over that we could look back and say, what the &%! OR Can you imagine the bravery and guts that took. Now, because so many people have bad feelings about this war (not that all wars don’t have the same thing), I just think it may be looking at the Iraq war through the eyes of history that may be the determining factor. But who knows?