Ryan Phillippe stars in the new movie, "Stop-Loss," the story of an American soldier just back from Iraq. It was directed by Kimberly Pierce, the filmmaker who did "Boys Don't Cry" with Hilary Swank. And it's based on the experiences of the director's brother who served in Iraq.

"Stop-Loss" shows how the horrors of that war traumatize the soldiers who fight there. A "kill or be killed" mentality is a key to survival for a soldier in Iraq, but it turns into post traumatic stress disorder when he comes home. Worse yet, under the "Stop-Loss" program, 81,000 returning vets have been ordered back to Iraq even though they've already served long enough to be discharged.

The film begins in Iraq where Staff Sergeant Brandon King (Phillippe) and his squad are ambushed by insurgents who disappear into the apartments of innocent civilians. As a consequence, some of those civilians are brutally killed in the crossfire, and some of the Americans are badly wounded, others killed.

The psychological effects of that carnage stick with the men when they return to their home town in Texas. They drink too much, hardly sleep, are on edge all the time, and generally feel out of place in their former homes. One of the squad (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is suicidal after his new wife kicks him out.

And then Phillippe's character discovers he's not getting out of the service after all. He's been "stop-lossed." He's enraged that after all he's been through he's been ordered back to Iraq. He calls it a "back door draft," an injustice that he just won't abide.

Naively, he assumes his U.S. Senator will help him, but the only person who does really help is the fiancee of one of his buddies played by Australian actress Abbie Cornish. Her partner has been ordered back to Iraq, also, and she doesn't think she can't endure another lengthy separation.

Ryan Phillippe is very good in this film. His torment is visible; his Texas accent flawless. I think he deserves an Oscar nomination for his devastating portray of this determined man who is doomed to fail, betrayed by the country he signed up to defend.

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