Directed
Sam Mendes
Cast
Jake Gyllenhaal….Anthony Swofford
Scott MacDonald….D.I. Fitch
Lo Ming….Bored Gunny (as Ming Lo)
Kevin Foster….Branded Marine
Peter Sarsgaard….Troy
Damion Poitier….Poitier
Riad Galayini….Nurse
Craig Coyne….Young Mr. Swofford
Katherine Randolph….Young Mrs. Swofford
Rini Bell….Swoff’s Sister
Dendrie Taylor….Mrs. Swofford
James Morrison….Mr. Swofford
Arman Zajic….Boy Swoff
Brianne Davis….Kristina
Jamie Foxx….Staff Sgt. Sykes
The Movie
Jarhead is adapted from a book by Anthony Swofford that goes into detail about his experiences as a Marine (Sniper) in the Gulf War. I don’t read books too often so I can’t tell you how well the movie is adapted to the screen. I can, however, tell you that the movie falls flat on someone who looked at the advertising and thought it was a shoot ’em up cool movie. It’s not a shoot ’em up. It’s not too cool. It’s not too good either.
Swofford is played by Jake Gyllenhall, who does an admirable job. He is basically someone with no direction who, when asked why he joined the Marines, says, “I got lost on my way to college!” The beginning of the movie is awesome to watch, as it is both funny and dramatic in the most perfect sense.
Swoff meets Staff Sgt. Sykes, who recruits him to be a sniper. After extensive training he becomes a sniper and soon enough he is headed to Iraq for the Gulf War. Most of the Marines assume they will be there for only a few days, which becomes comical as they keep putting the amount of time they are there up on the screen (it’s not a few days).
I could go into more detail but best explanation is this: Sometimes movies adapted from memoirs really have no story, as the character themselves is the story. This is one of those movies. It makes you scratch your head sometimes when watching it because you are waiting for the movie to start. Other people may see the deeper meaning of the movie or be able to immerse themselves in the character they are watching. I wasn’t able to do that with this movie.
That’s not to say the acting isn’t done well. Gyllenhall and Fox have a natural chemistry on screen and perform their roles very well. Mendes does a wonderful job filming the movie, capturing the oil fields and chaos on screen perfectly while doing his best to try to get the viewer inside of Swoff’s head.
Score: 7
The Audio
Dolby Digital 5.1 – As always, sounds just fine.
The Video
Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 – No noticeable transfer problems.
The Extras
Deleted Scenes – Nothing too special here. I always like to think that if the scene had any true meaning, it wouldn’t have been deleted.
Swoff’s Fantasy Scenes – These would’ve been great if included in the movie. It basically covers different parts of the movie where Swoff sees, says or does things that he shouldn’t. It’s funny stuff.
Full News Interviews – These are the full cuts of the interviews that the Marines give to a news crew that covers them at one point of the movie. Nothing too special.
Jarhead Diaries – This runs half an hour, covering everything behind the scenes of the movie. They had a documentary crew and personal cameras for the cast to do this. It’s a cool little piece. Cooky at some points, but cool.
Semper Fi – Another documentary piece running around half an hour. This is a nice piece that covers real Marines who come home from Iraq. It covers their stories after they return home. It goes pretty in depth into their mindsets during and after their respective tours.
Background – 1 final documentary, again at half an hour, this time focusing on the extras of the movie. Extras, and take this from someone who was one, have a thankless job and it’s pretty cool for them to get screen time, albeit on a DVD.
Score: 9 just because of the documentaries
