A military full of angst, light on action....

Rating: 8/10 (16 April 2006)

Amidst a nation still embedded in several military battles across the globe, this film might seem a little inappropriate at first glance. A film without any true heroes, or even heavy classic battle sequences like recent military film "Black hawk down". No true champions for which align. What it does offer, is something only touched upon in military films, the fragile mental state of men whose lives are constantly under pressure.
The film is based on a autobiographical memoir of a marine, during the original operation desert storm/shield conflict in Kuwait. Jake Gyllenhaal ( Brokeback Mountain ) plays Swofford, the excited and trouble making young soldier. Peter Saarsgard ( Flightplan) and Jamie Foxx ( Ray) play his closest friend and his commanding officer, respectively. The characters must cope with their lives constantly on the brink of danger, but never crossing that boundary. So what happens when you prepare young men for a war...that never happens.
The movie is shot wonderfully. the deserts are vast, dry and hot, the night sky pitch black with a red sand. The look of the film is amazing. The acting is also impressive. However, as an audience we are often left much like the soldiers, unsure of where to go or what to do next. I understand this is one soldiers perspective, so i should not have expected much, but it never really tied anything together. At the end, it just seems too ambiguous and left me unsure of what take away. war is bad..but is it worse if the promise of war is never fulfilled???Only the original Swofford might know the answer.