Directed by: Sam Mendes

Written by: William Broyles Jr.

Based on the book by Anthony Swofford

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx, Lucas Black, Chris Cooper, Scott MacDonald, Brian Geraghty, Laz Alonso, John Krasinski

Distributed by Universal Pictures

Film was released November 4th, 2005.

Review by Matt Holmes

Jarhead isn’t about glamorising or criticising wars. It’s not about bloody action sequences showing the harshness of it. You will find no similarities in this movie to films such as Saving Private Ryan or Black Hawk Down. It’s not an anti or pro war, but is instead just telling it like it is from the point of view of the people involved.

The movie focuses on the guys who are usually not spotlighted. The guys who have to wait as a war is going on without them. All they can do is pass the time thinking about their girlfriends back home, worrying if they are cheating on them or even if they have moved away to start a new life elsewhere. They have trained all their life for this moment, to fight for their country. They’ve watched movies such as Apoclaypse Now and The Deer Hunter, relishing for their part of the action and to make the years of training worthwhile.

They become bored and restless, go stir crazy in their minds as each day passes until the war is over, ended with a quick strike, before they even got a chance to fire off their guns.

I really liked this movie. Jarhead is filmmaking of the highest quality. Sam Mendes has put together a film where essentially nothing happens but you are simply captivated by the movie and you can’t take your eyes off it for a second. We are treated to several epic and memorable shots of the desert, which has never looked more beautiful than in this movie.

Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic as Anthony Swofford, a soldier who doesn’t know quite why he has ended up in Kuwait, but is desperate to make the trip worthwhile by getting in on the action. Gyllenhaal plays the character with so much realism and genuine emotion that you get totally lost in his character. I think it’s a big reason why he is such a successful actor, much like in Donnie Darko, you forget that you are watching an actor on screen and you truly believe that he is that person he is portraying.

The rest of the characters are perfectly cast, including Jamie Foxx’s Sgt. Sykes who would rather been on the battlefield than at home fucking his wife. Although smaller than his critically acclaimed roles in Collateral and Ray, he is still excellent in this movie with another believeable and truly realistic performance. Peter Sarsgaard is great as usual in the supporting role of the movie, he brings so much to every film he appears in. Their is one scene towards the end of the movie where he is about to take part in the killing of an enemy soldier which is so incredibly well performed, the actions and thoughts of the characters during the whole movie are instantly understood and perceived by the audience.

Truly fantastic. American Beauty, Road to Perdition then Jarhead. Sam Mendes you are a hell of a director, cant wait for your next movie.