an unfulfilled classic

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 2006)

i saw this last night and i'd heard mixed opinions of it which seems the problem. The moment Jarhead was announced Sam Mendes the man responsible for American Beauty, a perfectly sculpted comment on lost innocence and alienation takes on war the heart of lost innocence and not only that the gulf war, the ultimate metaphor of alienation and something somewhat feared by Hollywood, not only that but Jake Ghylenhaal, Hollywoods newest wonder boy and star of everybody's favourite cult film was to star. It was touted as the apocalypse now or Full Metal Jacket for the new generation. Apocalypse now it isn't but it could have been. There are countless scenes which could have become iconic, playing American Football in chemical suits and the branding of Troy. Don't mistake me these are still memorable scenes but they are not classic making scenes like the beach attack in Apocalypse now, i also felt Jarhead lacked a character as memorable as Killgore or Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The film seems very much to be cut up into two halves Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm- the first half (in which Swafford is trained and very suddenly sent to operation desert shield) is well done with ironic music and top one liners (alot of ironic humour, lines such as "thank god we never have to see to this sh*t hole again" referring to Iraq) punctuating a general feeling of honesty as to what actually happens in the army. When they hit the desert for operation desert shield i don't believe Mendes has achieved the effect he hoped for, we should feel like we're waiting for something to happen, we should fell like Swaff and the others. The football game should have appeared out of this, just something to do, not playing up for the cameras then it would have been iconic especially if filmed like any given Sunday or Friday night lights. When Swaff loses it with the other soldier was great and perfectly acted by Gylenhaal. When Desert storm begins is when i think the film really takes off you begin to feel really frustrated as they chase the war and the scenes at the burnt out barricade type thing are harrowing, they really make a point as does the friendly fire incident. You really start to feel for Swaf and Troy as they miss the chance at a kill and seeing them go back to their everyday lives makes it's point nicely. The cinematography is stunning there's little more i can say for it, you just have to see the desert after it rains oil. Overall this is a great film but not a classic, it lacks the memorable scenes which make it's predecessors so iconic except the point when the soldiers watch apocalypse now. If it ha been handle with a slightly higher level of skill it would easily have lived up to it's name.