A film about a war, and wars in general.

Rating: 8/10 (5 November 2005)

"Jarhead" ultimately operates as a movie with many messages, some of them stated quite plainly and others deeply embedded in the story of the characters. Don't confuse this with movies like "Saving Private Ryan" or "Black Hawk Down"-- this film does not glorify war in some roundabout way. Like "Three Kings" before it, "Jarhead" instead presents combat in a completely unique light, as only a sniper struggling in a high tech war could see it. His introspective, often silent observations drive the story about a group of eight elite marine snipers who spend nearly 130 some-odd days in Iraq. As Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) explains, it is at the same time a war that for him lasts four days. The impact it leaves behind however, is immeasurable.
A character that downright denies the audience much insight into his past with a bold and direct statement immediately in the first 5 minutes of the film, we are presented with the nearly clean slate of Swofford, who initially wants genuinely to serve his country, despite the jokes about merely "getting lost on the way to college".
He was not recruited, he reads Camus, and that's about all we're given. His character evolves afterwords into a realistic portrayal of a kid trying very hard to make sense of what is being thrown at him by the war as fatigues unique to the desert (as well as the more familiar stresses like that of the girl friend left behind) wear him down. Boredom and uselessness make him question his purpose in the war, and more importantly the role of the war in his life.
Using Swofford and the men in his unit, Sam Mendes (director of "American Beauty" and "Road to Perdition") masterfully presents a bleak at the same time violently vibrant portrait of youthful enthusiasm and pop culture-- where young soldiers refer continually to other films about war and try to act like the heroes portrayed in those films. Amidst beautifully stylized shots of blazing oil fires, friendly fire, and smoldering wreckage Mendes manages to make the sprawling desert as expressive as the period piece journey in "Perdition" or the home wrought with conflict in "Amercian Beauty" .
With strong supporting performances by both Peter Sarsgaard and Chris Cooper that that blend vulgar humor and sometimes smart, contemplative dialogue, the film makes a bold statement about the nature of war, as well as the place of war in today's society. As Swofford says in the closing scenes, "Every war is different, every war is the same."