An excellent movie, well executed.

Rating: 10/10 (17 May 2013)

The first time I sat watching this movie, I expected a typical war movie. I'm a fairly enthusiastic fan of war movies, action flicks, thrillers, you name it (Not to say I like mindless action and shallow plot). But this movie wasn't what I expected.
This movie is based on a book written by real life marine sniper Anthony Swafford, and chronicles his time spent in the marine corps. Without giving too much away, the gulf war wasn't a particularly bloody war for western forces. Rather than showing physical battles this movie shows the emotional battles going on inside the main character and how he deals with the stresses of war. It chronicles from Swaffords reluctancy as a recruit, through the agonising boredom of waiting for action, his paranoia regarding his girlfriend miles away, his eventual experience of action, to the end of his service and how his time in the corp affected him.
The cast in this film is great, Jake Gyllenhaal puts forward an excellent performance which would easily have carried poor performances from lesser actors, however, in this case the supporting actors were terrific. Jamie Foxx is great as staff sergeant and his comedy shines through, as is Peter Sarsgaard, not to mention the many other good performances from the smaller roles.
The sound and music is extremely well done in this movie, the use of quiet adds to the general texture of isolation. The 'bleached' effect is interesting, putting a sepia and nostalgic look on things. Generally the cinematography is a pleasure to experience.
In summary, the film is great, the acting is great, the sound and music is great, the cinematography is great.
All said and done, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who is purely after an action flick. It's not Saving Private Ryan or Platoon, and the action is slim, although I'd argue it at the least rivals those films in quality of experience. This movie is one you could put on your shelf and watch every couple of years.