Well written and acted

Rating: 7/10 (6 November 2005)

Saw Jarhead last night, in a packed theater, and was pleasantly surprised by not only the quality of the film-making but also of the story of this first major film documenting the gulf war(s). I haven't read the book that the movie is based on, but the film is very enjoyable in a dark, sad way , with some comedy that should not be funny in other circumstances, but the movie allows you to laugh and enjoy. About a marine who "gets lost on his way to college" and enlists, it is an autobiographical account of the first gulf war in 1992. Pvt. Swofford is assigned to a marine sniper group, and follows him through his deployment into Saudi Arabia and later Iraq. Like every other movie, it portrays how war affects the soldiers in it, psychologically and physically, and has a boot camp sequence that makes you want to run out and enlist (sarcasm). I give it a seven out of ten because of some loose ends that were probably not included from the book that might have been explained more (like the ending, horse, explosion, some others), and it seems to get a little preachy about the evils of military, but not to the extent of, say Apocalypse Now or FMJ. The account seems to be very realistic and factual, historically, probably because it was written by someone who was ACTUALLY THERE. I think that there was high caliber acting all around, and would recommend it to anyone.