"A story: A man fires a rifle for many years, and he goes to war." ... And sometimes, he is left dissappointed

Rating: 9/10 (14 January 2020)

"Jarhead" has always stood out in my mind when I think of the essential war films. Up there in good company with the likes of "Platoon", "Apocalypse Now" and "Saving Private Ryan". On first glance, before viewing, Sam Mendes's adaptation of Anthony Swofford's book about his personal experiences in the US Marines during the First Gulf War in 1991, could be dismissed as some glamourous Hollywood matinee. But it truly is a fine psychological study of men at war, and an authentic snapshot of what war can, and often is like, for soldiers; sometimes boring, with sustained periods of high-stress and readiness, rushing to battle only to find that the war has already moved on up the road when you get there.
Swoff is a young man 'lost on my way to college' when he enlists in the US Marines. After training, Saddam has invaded Kuwait and the West answers the call to defend the oil fields - in Operation Desert Shield - before the inevitable offensive to drive Saddam back into Iraq in Operation Desert Storm. An elite trained sniper, Swoff, like the rest of his platoon, can not wait to get into 'the suck'. But when they get in country, they find themselves stranded in the middle of the desert, preparing, masturbating, and waiting, and waiting, for their war to begin before it is over. A very intimate portrayal of men at war, Nirvana's "Something in the Way" accompanies a very poignant scene where our disillusioned and restless protagonist, homesick for a potentially unfaithful woman, dreams in the stifling heat.