Different

Rating: 7/10 (17 January 2006)

War movies are a difficult genre. The trick is to avoid both being overly patriotic and heroic, as well as avoiding being too negative. It seems to me that most war movies are made with either one of those two agendas, pro-war or anti-war. Both movies bore me really, it can work when the style is more oriented towards satire though.
"Jarhead" is different in the way that it stays clear of both agendas mentioned above. Based on the autobiography of a marine who served in the Gulf war, it tries to show the life of the individual marine. Staying away from politics is usually a good idea, especially when dealing with something fairly recent like the Gulf war. In scenes reminiscent of "Full Metal Jacket" we get to follow soldiers when they go through training and then we get to see them preparing for the war in the desert. A war that never seems to reach them.
If you expect an action-filled war movie in the vein of say "Black Hawk Down" you will be sorely disappointed. This is a much more bleak and, i believe, more realistic look at how the modern foot soldier experiences war. He's been replaced in many ways by machines like tanks and, above all, airplanes. And in the end boredom is his worst enemy.
Even though boredom is a prevalent theme throughout "Jarhead", the movie is never boring in my opinion. Rather it's an interesting look at pretty regular people that find themselves in an extraordinary situation, a situation that puts all their expectations to shame. Aside from the story "Jarhead" is also a very solid movie technically. The photography is beautiful, the music is well chosen and the direction from Sam Mendes is flawless. The acting is also above average from most of the actors, even Jake Gyllenhaal is pretty good. The one that stood out most though in my opinion was Jamie Foxx.
"Jarhead" is a very untraditional war movie and that makes it worth watching all by itself. But it's also interesting, well made and contains some great acting. A war movie that probably appeals more to people who usually don't enjoy war movies.