Posted: 11/05/2005

Jarhead

(2005)

by Hank Yuloff

They say we love to see movies about the things we love and the things that scare us. War has always scared me so I seem to gravitate to war movies. I have lots of favorites (Band of Brothers, Full Metal Jacket, Saving Private Ryan, The Big Red One, Patton, Glory, Midway, and A Bridge Too Far) and am adding another one to the list: Jarhead.

Based on the 2003 book by third-generation United States Marine Anthony Swofford, Jarhead follows the author’s experiences in pre-Desert Storm Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. If I were going to compare it to another movie, Full Metal Jacket would be the closest. Both are really two movies in one: following the enlistee through boot camp and then deployment to a war zone. The biggest difference between Jarhead and all the others is that we only see live enemy soldiers one time — and even then, just through the scope of Swofford’s sniper rifle.

The remainder is 6 months of dealing with searing heat, incessant training, fear of an enemy that could be just over the next sand berm, and hundreds of hours of complete boredom that allows the soldiers to ponder what is happening to their lives back home.

Generally, war movies take either a pro-war, rally-the-folks-at-home, fighting-for-our-country and protecting-freedom position (see John Wayne), or an antiwar position. This is what happens when we use human ingenuity for evil purposes (see Apocalypse Now).

In Jarhead, rather than delving too deep into the politics of the Gulf War, and by association, Gulf War II, director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition) focuses on one small platoon of Marines. They are caught up in a war that is over before most of the ground Troops catch up to their opponents. The Big Red One did the same thing (though that platoon was followed through the three years of World War II).

Those on both sides of the political spectrum will find this to be a piece of cinema they can claim because it focuses on some of the very bravest of citizens — those that enlist in the Armed Services.

Jake Gyllenhaal, who was unfortunate enough to star in two of my least favorite movies of this decade, Lovely and Amazing and The Day After Tomorrow, absolutely shines as Corporal Swofford. The inherent sarcasm of war is as seen equally on his face as he answers his drill sergeant that he got into the Marines because he got lost on the way to college as when we hear him talk to his sniper rifle for the first time. We hear the mantra, “This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this is mine. Without it I am nothing. Without me, my rifle is nothing.”

Surrounding Gyllenhaal in this cast are Jamie Foxx (Ray, Collateral), the staff sergeant who thanks God for every day he is given in the Corps; and Peter Sarsgaard, who plays Troy, his sniper-team partner. I had just seen Garden State, and it was as if Sarsgaard had taken that character and had him join the military. From Shattered Glass, through Kinsey, to Flightplan, Skeleton Key and now Jarhead, Sarsgaard has put together a string of great roles in the last three years that is almost as impressive as Foxx’s recent run. Of course, Foxx is currently filming Miami Vice, so his streak will end later this year.

Also, to director Mendes’ credit, he does not attempt to overdo the boot camp drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket (R. Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman), but lets Scott MacDonald (Straight Into Darkness) stay just “this side” of that character, and as so, is very effective.

This is a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen. It is another addition to my top 10 list for 2005. Mendes uses a not-to-be-missed bleached film effect when the platoon is in the desert and the visual, sound and acting deserve to be seen, to borrow a military term, in theater.

Hank Yuloff is our senior L.A. staffer.

Got a problem? E-mail us at filmmonthly@gmail.com