The First 21st Century War Film

Rating: 9/10 (6 November 2005)

I must say, as a fan of Anthony Swofford's book and of Sam Mendes, I have been waiting for Jarhead all year. The early reviews did not dishearten me, however, because many of them shared criticisms I had heard about the book (e.g., lack of a plot, etc.).
I saw Jarhead last night, and I realized that most of the critics are criticizing what the movie is not rather than what it is. These are a select group of STAs (and I do not think this is representative of everyone's Gulf War experience, just Anthony Swofford and we are watching the film through HIS eyes) weened on Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket who have developed a thirst for the "Sh*t" and a kill. And the '91 Gulf War was NOT Vietnam, but it was as Swofford says "his war." This situation fosters the development of the characters, and is exacerbated by Chris Cooper's character, a Lt. Col. cut in the mold you would find in Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket who give Swoff and Troy hope that their war-time fantasies may come to pass, only to come up empty.
And no, this is not a political film, but then what requirement is there that a war film should be political? It is a film about a war that barely happened, as George Clooney's character said in Three Kings - "I don't know what we did here!" Yes, Three Kings is a better movie, with stronger satirical bite than you will get here, but then again, Jarhead is based on a true story.
Mendes and Broyles streamlined the non-linear structure of the book, turning it into the chronological narrative, which I thought was appropriate. Technically the film is superb, from the performances, to Mendes' direction, Thomas Newman's score, and Walter Murch's editing. And no, you do not need to have read the book to appreciate Jarhead. But see it for what it is - a modern revisionism of the American War Film.