Beautifully moving, personal film...

Rating: 10/10 (5 November 2005)

I've never been in the United States military. Sure, I've seen my fair share of war films, but I don't pretend to know what it's like for soldiers out there on the front lines, fighting a war, going through that intense training. With films like Jarhead, I'm still not going to get there, but I can at least watch an intense, dramatic representation that has to be as close to the truth as I can possibly figure.
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Anthony Swofford, a U.S. Marine who went through the Gulf War. We follow Swofford from boot camp early in the film (though briefly), to his post at Camp Pendleton, to the desert sands of Iraq and back again. First thing I'll say about him, is LORD did he beef up for this role. He looks the part about as well as I can judge. Throughout the film we follow Swofford closely, watching his relationships with his fellow Marines, with his commanding officers, and with his back-home girlfriend. Through it all Gyllenhaal is up to the task, and he displayed such a great array of emotions in this character I'd be hard-pressed to come up with names for all of them. We get glimpses of the people and places that made the man who he is, but we don't get too much; in fact he deliberately doesn't let us see these events and people. What we get is Swofford's life in the Corps. Always around is his Staff Sergeant, played wonderfully by Jamie Foxx. I had to remind myself at times that this is the same guy who won an Oscar for portraying Ray Charles; he absorbs himself into this character and he really puts himself in charge. Support is also offered from the ever-delightful Chris Cooper (who I swear doesn't make bad movies) and Peter Sarsgaard, who was equally moving in his role as Troy, a fellow Marine. It was also nice to see 24-alum Dennis Haysbert poke his head in as a Major, but his role wasn't all that big.
The time spent in boot camp is minimal; ditto his post at Pendleton, though we can see through these brief glimpses that he is not exactly the favorite of his commanding officers. He makes the cut as a scout sniper when it is announced that Saddam Hussein (yeah, we all know that name) has invaded Kuwait, and that the United Nations have been called to intervene. So, we're going to war.
Once Swofford and his fellow Marines arrive in the desert, they are literally bored out of their minds. First part of "Operation Desert Shield", meant to protect Iraqi neighbor Saudi Arabia from attack. It is here in the heat of the desert that the characters start to fall apart; especially from sour news back home of wives and girlfriends who have left our soldiers behind (one particular scene in which a soldier gets a nasty revelation by video is, although predictable, hard-hitting nonetheless). After a mishap over Christmas gets Swofford busted down to private, the war truly begins, but these Marines can't help but be disgruntled that they will not see any action. The war is moving too fast for the sniper, the infantryman. The soldiers persevere, though they are tested mentally and physically by the hot desert and the oil fires that burn brightly in the night sky. Before you know it the war is over, without having seen any combat, without even having fired their weapons; the Marines get to go home.
The brains behind this beautifully personal and moving film are none other than Sam Mendes, the Academy Award-winner for American Beauty. So going into this film, I had high expectations, and they weren't let down in the least. Much as he did with his actors in American Beauty, every one of the actors (starring and supporting right down to extras) turns out something better than expected here. Mendes is proving himself over and over to be a great actor's director, bringing characters to life like you can't believe on the screen. That's not to say he lacks the gift elsewhere; this film looked beautiful too. Even in the desert when oil was falling like rain, Mendes somehow managed to make it look beautiful.
All in all, Jarhead wasn't much of a war film, so don't go into it expecting to see much combat; you won't. Instead you'll get a beautifully-crafted, intensely personal film about soldiers on the brink of combat, and the trials and struggles they go through waiting on the edge of the front lines. Stellar performances by an all-star cast and some incredible settings and camera work will floor you. Another incredible film for Sam Mendes; definitely one of the must-see films of the year.