Not Kubrick's best, but still interesting

Rating: 6/10 (14 February 2016)

"Full Metal Jacket" isn't one of those movies I can watch with any sort of regularity. I'm pretty sure it's been 15 years' time since last I watched this, and it'll be another 15 before the next time. It's the kind of movie you see just to say you've done it; to finally get the pop culture references.
In any case, the movie is never more compelling than in its first hour. Lee Ermey's larger-than-life drill sergeant varies from amusing to funny to scary. The writing is on the all with Vincent D'Onofrio's character from the beginning, and the conclusion to his vignette is undeniably haunting. But then the gears switch into a wayward war movie, moving from one firefight to the next, nowhere near as interesting as it was in the barracks.
Ultimately, what you've got here is a great first half and a dull second, and the movie so clearly belongs to Ermey. But then again, a lot of this movie felt contrived in the service of that abusive drill sergeant. Pyle - drafted or not - should never have been there in the first place. That kid would never hold up to basic training, and the end result was foregone from the outset. He was basically there for Ermey to light into, and that makes the full metal jacket scene ring pretty hollow.
6/10