Severely disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (27 October 2005)

Got to catch a sneak preview of my film through my school. So stood in line for more than hour (with 300 other people) to get to watch Jarhead (the movie was followed by a Q&A with he author of the book).
A severely disappointing film, I must say. With a director like Mendes, and a cast of Gylenhaal, Cooper (woefully underused) and Foxx, and great looking trailer, how could this film go wrong? The movie starts off great enough. Great voice-over by Gylenhaal, the beginning of the film is funny, gritty and engaging. But once they head to the desert...
The character of Sarsgaard is just plain strange. No idea what is making him tick, and his personality changes just too many times over the course of the movie, and his character's final denouement is a bit of a letdown. Foxx is put to great use here. He plays his role very well (as usual), putting in the right amount of attitude his role requires. Cooper is barely on screen for five minutes, and is utterly wasted. (You can catch most of his screen time by just watching the trailer). Finally, Gylenhaal is good. He manages to put in the frustration and trigger-lust that his character needs to show.
But the first and last words of the movie (he story about the soldier) simply do not resonate. they might be true in most other war movies. But in this movie, which tries to be the anti-War movie, the line rings hollow. But the movie itself has no goal, no aim, no direction. The movie moves from one scene to another without any regard for the previous one, and the impact that Mendes so brutally delivered in each and every scene in American Beauty, is sorely missing. Some scenes are just present to shock you, others to provide a great looking shot. An example is the dream sequence featuring 'Something in the way' by Nirvana. A great song, a great concept for a shot, but it just doesn't click. No impact whatsoever.
Finally, the movie can't decide whether to be a political movie, a war movie, a statement against war, a statement about boredom, and finally an ineffective muddle of the lot.The entire film pretty much just looks like a setup for the trailer. So save yourself a few bucks and just go watch the trailer another time.