critics missed the point

Rating: 9/10 (7 November 2005)

I am a little surprised that this movie got such bad reviews, I really enjoyed it. It was an intense movie. You will either love this movie or want to cry, perhaps both. I think that the critics missed the point of this movie.
It is a movie about a marine who enlists and then almost immediately realizes it was a mistake. Then he gets handpicked by a staff sergeant to be a scout sniper. In the training he learns that he is actually a good sniper and gets hooked and loves it. He is then left to be bored and do all sorts of interesting rituals and craziness ensues with his fellow marines to pass the time. The acting is superb by Jake Gyllenhaal and the directing and cinematography is subtle yet moving and effective.
In a large part the movie is sitting around and waiting, wondering what their girlfriends are doing and being paranoid that they are getting screwed by someone else. They sit and ponder a lot about the world going by and no one caring. It is a lot about pondering the real world and what their plans are when the leave the marines.