Review of Jarhead (2005) by Steves. — 01 Nov 2005

I thought the movie was excellent, and captured the essence of the book very well. My wife hadn't read the book, and having seen the movie she wants to read the book too; she liked the movie a lot too.

People expecting a giant war movie may be disappointed, but they should know better -- the war was Desert Shield and Desert Storm, after all. The real story is the overall experience of being a Marine, through arrival, training, peacetime military, buildup to war, battle, and return to civilian life.

Jake Gyllenhaal's acting is very good. He has a convincing intensity. Peter Sarsgaard is very good also. Jamie Foxx doesn't get a lot of screen time, but his part is important, and he is excellent.

Chris Cooper has little more than a cameo, but he plays it well too. The directing is excellent; Sam Mendes picked up lots of awards for _American Beauty_, and he has done another fine job. The cinematography is impressive too.

The screenplay does a great job of matching the mood of the book, which was a huge seller in 2003. Given the timing of the movie, during another war in the same country as the one featured in the book and movie, some people might expect a political message.

There is practically none at all. It's not about why the Marines were sent off to that war, it's about their experiences as Marines, particularly Swofford's experiences. Some people may take away a political message, but if they do they're reading their own attitudes into the movie, because the movie is strongly apolitical.

The one Marine in the movie who brings up political issues is shouted down by the others. The sole exception is wartime censorship; when the media visit, the soldiers are annoyed that their censorship orders go absurdly beyond protection of military information.