A Different Take Was Needed

Rating: 8/10 (20 February 2006)

Jarhead was one of the most enjoyable movies I have seen all summer. Straying from the usual war movie style of "Men coming together under fire and being forged into mates hip", Jarhead analyses the psychologically crippling aspects of warfare and in particular, pre-battle hype. The film is sort of like sex without pay-off with the entire movie featuring little action that the main characters ever see. This does not damage the film's attractiveness but it can become monotonous after a while. In particular, the scene where they are marching towards the Iraqi line (which they don't see) sums up the movie in entirety: frustration. Jake Gyllenhaal shines as Swofford and Peter Sarsgard and Jamie Foxx are also excellent in their own way. Overall, Jarhead was a very well made movie that effectively used sympathy towards the soldier's plight so that the audience became aware of their problems. 8/10