Jarhead

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Someone said that “Jarhead” is like “Waiting for Godot” with sunscreen, and if you’re inclined to see this film then be prepared for exactly that. But, that’s the point of this story; here war isn’t hell, it’s the waiting that’s hell.

Based on the book of real-life Marine sniper, Anthony "Swoff" Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal), “Jarhead” is a course, funny and sobering portrait of one scout/sniper platoon and their journey to and through Desert Storm. The film opens at the appropriate moment; that point of reality when a young Swoff comes to grips with the fact that his rush to join the elite combatants of the world, his hastily formed reasoning based as much on a lack of direction as on personal family history . . . may have been a bit shortsighted.

What follows is the build-up to war, but it’s more meaty in a manner that most war films are not. The genre of war films is usually about . . .war. Jarhead goes to war but the film’s thesis is more about the process and results of robotizing men who will go to war than the actual involvement in the act itself. We’re guided through the boot-camp process without all the glitz, and the actual moment when these young men have secured their places within the ranks of the select few comes and goes with little in the way of hoo-rah. Instead, what’s revealed is the real impact of what they have achieved, what they have become, what they have been made into and what they will never un-become. This is apparent when the platoon’s evening entertainment is a viewing of “Apocalypse Now‘s,” helicopter/beach scene, conveniently provided the night before they depart for war with Saddam.

Swifted off to face the enemy Swoff, along with the other young men in his platoon find that the real enemy is a faceless land of heat and sand and inexorable, inexhaustible time. They fill the void and address their enemy with MASH-like moments that are made grittier with the tension of trained killers who are in limbo; waiting to kill; waiting to fulfill their goal. Staff Sgt. Sykes (Jamie Foxx) is in charge here and he makes well known that he loves the life of a Marine and expects these men to do nothing less. The role fits Foxx well and in fact the three leads Gyllenhall, Foxx and Peter Sarsguard (Swoff’s Jarhead buddy) are all worthy of high praise.

There are complaints the film lacks a plot or point or political meaning but that’s what makes this film. As if war could have a reasonable point “Jarhead’s” lack of a political or satirical point of view is frustrating, but pointlessness and frustration are two of the major themes of all war, so complaining about them is, you know, pointless. This film is worth seeing for the acting and the cinematography and messages be damned . . .Hoo-rah!