Jeff and I went to go see Jarhead last night and I was pleasantly surprised. I was sort of expecting another Blackhawk Down war movie (sorry, no I didn't like Blackhawk Down), but was pleasantly surprised instead. A war movie without much of a war, Jarhead is really more of a character study and Jake Gyllenhaal does an outstanding job of bringing his character to life. Peter Sarsgaard and Jamie Foxx also give particularly good performances, though the screenwriter didn't give them too much to work with. It would have been nice if characters other than Gyllenhaal's had been a bit more developed. Keeping in mind though, that the movie is based on an autobiography of Gyllenhaal's character, I guess that is to be expected.
Though several scenes were reminiscent of Full Metal Jacket, I really liked Jarhead overall. The cinematography was really good, especially the scenes during the burning of the oil wells. Several critics claim Jarhead lacks a point, but I think that *is* the point. Throughout the conflict, it seems like many of the soldiers wonder what the point of the war is. Just like the Gulf War was much different than Vietnam, Jarhead is much different from, for example, Apocalypse Now (which makes a cameo appearance in the film).
So what was the point of this movie again? ;)
ReplyDeleteI prefer my war movies with more stuff blowing up and less of that darn philosophizing. ;)