"Still walking through the desert..."

Rating: 10/10 (12 April 2006)

I, going to a school where war is the choice career, was hysterical when every child went to see Jarhead, hoping for the next Saving Private Ryan. But instead, got an anti-war movie, with no action sequences. They all said it was the worst war movie they've ever seen. Obviously, from one of the first lines in the movie, this is NOT a war flick. Do not expect a bloody, bumpy-camera, fogged-lens, modern version of Hamburger Hill. Do not expect Full Metal Jacket with M16's. Do not expect Black Hawk Down: Iraqi Takedown. Instead, expect a moving, flawless, touching, masterful epic of a marines struggle through Gulf War, and how it changed him. There is tension, there is fighting. Threats of weapon discharges, helpless soldiers wandering through inches of oil, burning gas fields, work, boredom, faulty NBC suits, untrusting wives, and nighthmares. Jarhead gives you the experience of what these marines went through, without having to wait in the desert for 6 months, wanting only to fire your rifle at something other than dirt. Peter Sarsgaard, who plays Troy, is deserving of an Oscar. His every line is perfectly spoken, filled with wit and character. I actually cried when he flips over not getting his only chance at a KO. And trust me, I don't cry during movies much. Last time was during My Dog Skip. So, how does it end? Do they go home? Yes. Are they hurt? Yes. Are there lives changed forever? Not all of them. Will they ever go back? Only one. Do they get to kill someone? No, not even one. Do they have fun? Sometimes. Are they still walking through the desert? Forever, they are always walking through the desert. 10/10