"Jarhead" doesn't concern itself with a "War is Hell" message, instead it focuses on the mundane aspects of warfare.
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"Jarhead" certainly has the pedigree to rack up nominations during the awards season. You've got Academy Award winning director Sam Mendes at the helm, the legendary Walter Murch editing, Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx, cinematography from Roger Deakins, and rising, young stars like Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard. Yet, "Jarhead" seems all but forgotten, perhaps due to its apolitical stance. "Jarhead" plays it right down the middle and its refusal to choose sides may have left it overshadowed by the left-wing sensibilities of "Crash", "Syriana", or "Good Night and Good Luck." Too bad as "Jarhead" gives us a refreshing take on the war film.
Based on the memoirs of real-life marine Anthony Swofford, the film follows Swofford (played by Gyllenhaal) through his training, tour of duty during Desert Storm, and his life after the military. While his father and uncle served for their country, Swofford isn't too gung-ho to follow in their footsteps. In fact, he doesn't seem quite sure what he wants to do and the Marines is the only thing he could think of. While in boot camp, Swofford befriends Troy (Sarsgaard), who thinks of nothing, but the Marines.
Swofford and Troy catch the eye of Staff Sgt. Sykes, who brings them into his unit of scout snipers. They learn the patience needed to wait for that perfect shot, a kill that will yield the much sought after "pink mist." And that's a driving theme in the film, the waiting. The new recruits are on pins and needles, anxious to see action. They just might get it when Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait. Dispatched to the Middle East, they are more than disappointed to find out their mission is to guard the oil fields. The troops pass the time by running drills, playing football, and masturbating to girlie pictures. When they're finally called into combat, it's not all it's cracked up to be. They patrol the vast, empty desert and find nothing. Swofford never even gets to fire his sniper rifle.
"Jarhead" doesn't concern itself with a "War is Hell" message, instead it focuses on the mundane aspects of warfare. The marches, the patrols, cleaning firearms, learning how to put on a gas mask. We learn, in order to prevent lawsuits, the Marines must sign a waiver before they are given pills that will save them from nerve gas. Little things like this make "Jarhead" stand out against more acclaimed war films, "Platoon", for instance. In fact, references to other war films are done in an ironic manner. During boot camp, the Marines watch the Ride of the Valkyrie scene from "Apocalypse Now." They whoop and holler as the choppers gun down the enemy. In another scene, they get set to watch "The Deer Hunter" only to find that one Marine´s wife has taped over it with footage of herself having sex with another man. The bleaker themes of the above films are almost forgotten.
The visceral carnage of combat isn´t present either. We don´t see wholesale slaughter or some poor soul dying in a pool of blood. But, the toll of battle is still present. There are only two instances where troops are actually killed, both due to friendly fire. Once, during a training exercise in boot camp, and another, when a unit is fired upon by their own Air Force. While on patrol, they find burnt out caravan of refugees and make camp amongst the charred remains. Later, Swofford patrols an oil field ablaze and comes across a lone horse wandering the desert, covered in oil. It´s a quiet and poetic moment that tells more than any scene full of blown apart limbs.
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[release]18437[/release]