Great performance from Jake Gyllenhaal

Rating: 7/10 (27 January 2014)

Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a Sacramento kid who enlists in the Marines. The audience is taken along through his training, and then the first Gulf War starts. He's in the middle of it all, but it's a struggle to maintain his sanity in an insane situation.
It's a compelling and fascinating story based on the real Anthony Swofford's book. The training provide some memorable moments. The deployment gets strange. It's the actual war that's where this movie is unusual. Most war movie is about the bang bang. This one is about the search and longing for the bang bang. Like the disappointment that Swofford must have felt, I think the audience also feels that disappointment in the film.
Jake Gyllenhaal gives an amazing performance. Director Sam Mendes achieves exactly what the experience is about. The movie leaves you feeling empty and a little haunted. It makes you wonder if everybody wasted their time.