Oorah! Jarhead a must see

Rating: Null/10 (27 December 2005)

By Manny Castro
"Four days, four hours, one minute. That was my war," says Marine Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal). "I never shot my rifle." Jarhead (based on Swofford's 2003 best-selling book) tells the tale of his stint in boot camp and his prolonged and dull duty in Dessert Storm with Sergeant Sykes (Jaime Foxx), Troy (Peter Sarsgaard), and a handful of other colorful characters. The film is great because it's different. Absent are the battle scenes and gore. This is just a tale of a sniper platoon, trained to kill, which gets pushed out of the way by the Air Force. The film is unique, features amazing direction by Sam Mendez (American Beauty) and it's funny too.