The film's strong suit is vagueness, presenting combat as a semi-surreal state of ignorant expectation and dislocated experience: these warriors loll in the desert awaiting action or trying to make sense of its consequences.
Overview
Jarhead is a film about a US Marine Anthony Swofford’s experience in the Gulf War. After putting up with an arduous boot camp, Swofford and his unit are sent to the Persian Gulf where they are eager to fight, but are forced to stay back from the action. Swofford struggles with the possibility of his girlfriend cheating on him, and as his mental state deteriorates, his desire to kill increases.
Director and cast
- Sam Mendes Director
- Jake Gyllenhaal as Anthony Swofford
- Jamie Foxx as Staff Sgt. Sykes
- Peter Sarsgaard as Alan Troy
- Scott MacDonald as D.I. Fitch
- Chris Cooper as Lt. Col. Kazinski
- Laz Alonso as Ramon Escobar
- Lucas Black as Kruger
- Brian Geraghty as Fergus O'Donnell
- Damion Poitier as Poitier
- Jocko Sims as Julius
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Jarhead is utterly predictable (boys endure tough training; boys encounter another culture and are baffled), studded with first-rate performances.
Screenwriter William Broyles, Jr., a former Vietnam pilot and Newsweek editor, connects reasonably well with the material, but American Beauty director Sam Mendes has a tendency to smooth out the rough edges, and the film goes flat as month-old soda.
This is a very strong film with really good performances.
What's so good about the movie is Gyllenhaal's refusal to show off; he doesn't seem jealous of the camera's attention when it goes to others and is content, for long stretches, to serve simply as a prism though which other young men can be observed.
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