A superb war film... with no action

Rating: 6/10 (14 January 2006)

The trailer had really hyped this film up for me and I thought it looked like one of the coolest films to come out in a while... I can safely say I wasn't disappointed.
The story follows that of Jake Gyllenhaal, a young American man who has no prospects for him back in America. Enlisting in the marines, he figures this may be a mistake. The story then unfolds with Gyllenhaal and his unit of marine led by Jamie Foxx on their tedious waiting in the desert for the Iraqis to finally strike to they can see some action.
The Iraqis never strike, but one by one the men begin to lose sight of what they are there for, and all of them are in someway affected by their times in the desert.
As stated in the title, no actual battle scenes occur in the film which I found bizarre for a war film... but I think it just deepens the meaning of this film, the way Swofford truly intended his story to be told.
Jamie Foxx I feel turned in the best performance as the squad's staff sergeant delivering a very powerful yet funny role. Actually that said, this film is hilarious in places. For about the first hour you are treated to some scenes which aren't too far off from being in a Gulf War comedy.
The shooting style is brilliant with the scene in the burning oil fields being incredibly moody and darkly shot.
Overall I conclude this is the third masterpiece from Sam Mendes, and definitely worth a viewing.
10/10