STOP-LOSS — ** 1/2 — Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum, Abbie Cornish; rated R (violence, profanity, gore, slurs, vulgarity)

At times the movie "Stop-Loss" appears to be at odds with itself.

The Iraq war drama has its share of very effective, subtle moments but then follows them up with some crushingly heavy-handed commentary.

And while it features several good performances, it also has at least one really awful one. Also, the movie appears to be headed for a courageous conclusion but then wimps out a bit at the very end.

Still, as flawed as it is, the movie is certainly better than either the jingoistic action-thriller "The Kingdom" or the awful direct-to-video drama "Home of the Brave," both of which explored a few similar themes.

The film follows two U.S. Army soldiers and longtime friends, Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) and Steve Schriver (Channing Tatum).

Brandon and Steve have finished their tours of duty in Iraq and are looking forward to their civilian lives. However, Brandon is told by his commanding officer that he's been "stop-lossed," or being ordered to return to Iraq immediately.

The soft-spoken soldier, who recently led a mission in which three of his men were killed, is hesitant and balks. In fact, Brandon chooses to go AWOL rather than return to duty.

Suddenly on the run, he's accompanied by Michelle (Abbie Cornish), a childhood friend who also happens to be the fiancee of his best friend, Steve.

Co-screenwriter/director Kimberly Peirce is very smart when it comes to casting. In her 1999 drama, "Boys Don't Cry," she cast Hilary Swank as the real-life Brandon Teena, which worked well. Here, she casts Phillippe as a soldier, and he turns in one of his better performances.

Tatum ("Step Up") is more problematic, though. He has shown some talent, but a dramatic confrontation scene involving his and Phillippe's characters goes awry because he simply doesn't have the chops to pull it off.

And the film neglects some of its more interesting supporting characters. A subplot about their now-alcoholic brother-in-arms (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is written off fairly quickly and easily.

"Stop-Loss" is rated R for scenes of strong war violence and other violent action (gunplay, vehicular and explosive mayhem, brawling and fisticuffs, and some implied violence against women), strong sexual language (profanity, crude slang and other suggestive talk), some graphic gore, and ethnic slurs and other derogatory language. Running time: 112 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com