war as poetry

Rating: 9/10 (5 November 2005)

As far as war movies go, JARHEAD is one of the five best of all time.
At times as rigidly cold as FULL METAL JACKET, but always as visually poetic as THE THIN RED LINE, it makes no political statements either way, but as SAVING PRIVATE RYAN showed the glory in fighting a war for freedom, JARHEAD shows the emptiness in fighting a war for oil. Jake Gyllenhaal moves up to the A list for actors and with the upcoming Brokeback Mountain seems a lock for an Oscar nomination. The rest of the cast is perfect in a variety of military roles, especially Peter Sarsgaard, who will not be overlooked at Oscar time for a third year in a row. It seems to me, anyone who wants to make a landmark movie just needs to hire Roger Deakins as D.P. The man could make home movies Art!