Boredom And Cliché

Rating: 5/10 (4 January 2011)

Someone once claimed that " War is 99% boredom and 1% terror " . Having never been involved in a war I'm not sure if it's true but it's a phrase that has become so over used that it not only rings true but has become a cliché . In that case JARHEAD is very accurate because it's an amalgamation of boredom and cliché
The film is based on the best selling book by Anthony Swofford . It did cause some controversy when it was published because it seemed to be full of urban myths and clichés . There is no doubt that Swoffered was a US marine and took part in the first Gulf War but some things don't seem to ring true according to opinions more qualified than mine
The film suffers from this . I knew long before I saw it that JARHEAD wasn't going to be a fercious war actioner in the way BLACK HAWK DOWN was but you're constantly reminded of other superior military dramas simply because they're better movies . How many people here were reminded of FULL METAL JACKET ?
On a technical level it's impressive enough . Director Mendes frames sequences well enough and is helped by cinematographer Roger Deakins while the cast are competent enough . The problem with the film is that it's a rather uninvolving affair with the lack of drama being replaced with clichés that you've seen before in better fictional films