Jarhead

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Lucas Black, Dennis Haybert, John Krasinski
Directed by: Sam Mendes
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, War
2005

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) enlists in the Marines as a Sniper, and is sent to fight in the Gulf War. However, once he and his platoon enter the desert, Swofford finds war is not exactly as he imagined.

Review:

Tim: I really believe that every great actor needs to make a war movie. This isn't the only criteria, but one nonetheless. Jake Gyllenhaal's turn here is a bit of an unconventional war movie. If you expected to see actual combat in Jarhead, you will probably be disappointed. This is a war movie minus the war- but it does give a very in depth and personal look at life in the military. There are certainly some strengths to this film, but as a whole, it is hard to look past how amazing this movie could have been. Instead, it's just a decent war movie that fights and struggles to not get lost in the flood of movies out of Hollywood.

Sam Mendes doesn't direct a great movie here. He is a talented director, but has some major flaws as well. Those flaws are apparent here. For a movie in which technically, nothing actually happens, this movie is far too long at 125 minutes. It needed to be about 15-20 minutes shorter, and cutting some ineffective scenes would have gone a long way towards this goal. The acting is actually terrific (more on this in a moment)- so the blame for this movie really falls on Mendes' shoulders. Yes, this movie certainly has some great scenes, but as whole, it feels sadly pointless. Part of the film's plot is how boring war oftentimes actually is- but that doesn't mean the movie should bore the audience (which it too often does). The middle of the movie is a muddle- each scene feels all too familiar to the last. We quickly get the point- war is often boring, pointless, mindless, and can drive people crazy. This is pounded into us over and over again. Mendes needed to be better here.

As I mentioned, the cast should take no blame for the disappointment in this film at all. Has Jake Gyllenhaal ever been better? He seizes the opportunity of this meaty role, and delivers in spades. He is excellent, and gives a memorable, game-changing performance. Gyllenhaal is one of my favorite young actors, and proves again here that he has amazing skills in front of the camera. Peter Sarsgaard is likewise excellent. Sarsgaard is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood today. Has he ever given a bad performance? Everytime I see him, I am impressed. I also liked Jamie Foxx (not always true, but he was very good here), Chris Cooper, Dennis Haysbert, and even a blink-and-you'll-miss-him John Krasinski. The cast was nearly flawless.

Part of the problem with this movie is that it feels like it is filled with too many war movie cliches. I don't know how much of this comes from Swofford's memoir, but this film too often felt like a film we have seen again and again. Not enough is new or exciting.

Jarhead is certainly an unconventional war movie. It features some amazing performances, and does have a few brilliant moments. The scenes of the oil wells on fire in the desert is hauntingly beautiful. However, the movie doesn't work nearly well enough, and for that reason, is a disappointment. This is not a terrible movie, but all the pieces were in place for this film to be an instant war classic. Instead, I'm left with a bitter taste in my mouth as to what this movie should have been.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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