AmateurMovieReviews.com

The 2005 major motion picture release of Jarhead caught my attention because of the intense feel of the trailers and the intriguing tagline of "Welcome to the Suck." It was billed as a movie that would reveal the truth of what life was like in the U.S. Marine Corps during the first Gulf War. Usually I don't like war movies and don't go out of my way to watch them. But this one looked different and starred a wonderful group of talented actors, including Jake Gyllenhall, Peter Sarsgaard, and recent Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx, so I decided to give it a try.

Jarhead is based on the memoirs of Anthoy Swofford, who was just 20 years old when he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Swofford is played by Gyllenhall, and we get brief, requisite glimpses of what happens during basic training. These scenes, complete with a screaming, in-your-face drill sergeant and the standard "This is my rifle…" litany were reminiscent of Full Metal Jacket and didn't strike me as anything original or fresh.

After completing basic training, Swofford is assigned to a unit of snipers under the command of Staff Sgt. Sykes (Foxx). At first, Staff Sgt. Sykes does a couple of things to humiliate Swofford, but as Swofford and his friend Troy (Sarsgaard) emerge as the best sniper and spotter in the unit, a sort of tenuous respect develops between them. The Marines spend most of their time doing training exercises and talking about their loved ones back home until they get the call they've all been waiting for: a "situation" has arisen between Iraq and Kuwait, so a U.S. military presence is required in the Middle East. The Marines are going to the desert to see some action.

If you were expecting these Marines to act scared and reluctant to go, you'd be all wrong. In fact, Swofford and his crew are portrayed in a rather bloodthirsty light. They keep talking about how they want to engage with the enemy and notch their first kills. But that doesn't happen. Instead, as part of Operation Desert Shield, they simply wait and train, wait and train, wait and train in an endless cycle. The men start to get restless and irritable from being in the desert for more than six months with nothing to show for it. Finally, Operation Desert Shield turns into Operation Desert Storm and it looks like the Marines might get their wish of being in combat after all.

But that never happens because Operation Desert Storm ends so quickly. The closest any of them got to killing the enemy was when Swofford and Troy were sent out on a mission to assassinate and Iraqi officer. However, the mission was aborted at the very last second -- literally when the officer was already in Swofford's sights -- and so they go home without having done anything at all.

Jarhead is different from other movies about the Marines or war in general because of the lack of combat action. It's more of a character study than anything else and it shows the way the characters still change from the beginning of their tour of duty to the end, despite the lack of actual combat. The movie also deals with the relationships that form between the men and how they grow to trust each other and regard each other as family.

Even though I thought this film had noble aspirations, I didn't like it very much at all. The main reason is that I thought it was extremely boring. As I just said, I know the point of this movie was not to show action but to show what happens to the characters as a direct result of inaction, but the overall film still didn't work for me. Character studies ought to be based on interesting characters and interesting events, but Jarhead contained neither. None of the main characters was particularly likable, so I ended up not caring what they went through or how it affected them.

Some movie critics have given Jarhead rave reviews, but I can't bring myself to join their ranks. I thought director Sam Mendes had good intentions with this film, but it didn't work out in the end. I recommend skipping this one.