Expectations Too High...

Rating: 6/10 (26 October 2005)

I saw a private screening tonight with a couple days to go before Jarhead hits the box office. I think the buzz around the film is great and it will do very well...however, I must say I was terribly disappointed.
If you are looking for a story like Sam Mendes gives us in American Beauty and Road to Perdition, look again. The plot, if there is one, is what you make of it. The longer the film went, the more I wondered what was the point. Then again, this is what many of the soldiers soon learn...why are they there? I began to wonder why I was there...in the theater.
What Mendes does do is get the most out of his actors. Gyllenhaal and Foxx are solid and completely believable as soldiers. Peter Sarsgaard turns in his best performance to date and the other Marines come across as realistic. Speaking of realistic, from boot camp to the desert battles, the scenes are gripping and real...a little too real. I think some soldiers would not want to see this film to relive the harsh realities of war, but those same soldiers would want the public to see Jarhead to "feel" the pain they experience on the battlefield.
The explosions were far and few between, and the movie begins to drag as the characters...well NOTHING actually happens other than all the craziness inside their own minds. If you are looking for a film with build up that provides no solid conclusion, well this is it.
I expected so much more from Jarhead, and I didn't get it. It felt more like a glorified documentary than a Mendes drama. Save your money and wait until you can rent Jarhead and see for yourself.