'Jarhead' a great war film for our generation
By Nick Norman
"Jarhead" is the first great war film that our generation can safely call our very own. I have never seen my buddies and I reflected in a war film until this one. Feelings of disillusionment and disappointment carry this portrait of youth.
We've long been told by other war films that war is 99 percent waiting and one percent action. The only problem is that those very films only showed us the action. "Jarhead" breaks this trend. It embraces the tedium of war and twists it into a powerful reflection on the jilted generation.
Sometimes boredom is the deadliest enemy of all. Very often, the fight is in staying sane while awaiting combat--not staying alive in combat itself. Especially when the fight never comes.
It is about time a film showed the glory of the small, everyday battles away from the action: keeping in touch with girlfriends, missing the parents, seeing the positive in an insane situation.
"Jarhead" tells the tale of a group of Marine snipers training for, waiting for, and nearly missing the Gulf War. Director Sam Mendes, known for his canonical film "American Beauty," translated the best-selling autobiography of Pvt. Anthony Swofford into a stunning film. Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the lost soul in the typical group of soldiers: the religious one, the political one, the dorky one, the ubiquitous meathead.
But what happens when a bunch of young guys gets put in the middle of nowhere with their best friends, with nothing to do but wait? And wait. And wait for a war that never comes. It turns out they drink, watch porn, nap, and horse around as much as any other 18 to 23-year-olds do. Only they have a high-powered rifle in hand while they do it.
These soldiers workout, play tricks on one another, call each other terrible names, fret over girl problems, and play football like anyone else.
These men were human.
I repeatedly saw my buddies and I projected on the silver screen. We tracked down illegal alcohol. We talked about girls. We wrestled and generally acted like children.
Don't be misled, you might cry and you will certainly not stop thinking about this film. It will stick in your brain like crude oil. Choking, binding and slowing your thoughts, "Jarhead" will change your perception of the military.
As our soldiers trickle back from Iraq, they must re-adjust to a life free of anonymous killers, instant death, and cramped trigger fingers. We must help them however possible. Therefore, this film is a healthy lesson for the civilian population.
As Pvt. Swofford tells us, no matter what they might be doing, these men and women will always have a rifle in their hands. We must remember that we will never understand their experiences. We can only respect it without fully comprehending.
Grade: A