Jarhead

The new film by the overrated Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road To Perdition) is certainly an interesting piece of cinema. Following the tour of duty of a dozen or so marines in the first Gulf War, it promises to be a diary detailing the day to day lives of soldiers on standby in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, it fulfils this pledge to the letter, which means that the film itself is often rather dull.

Mendes’ film takes an interesting ‘hands off’ approach to the politics of the situation, or wars in general, and instead focuses simply on what it’s like to be a combatant. Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) is the central figure and narrator of the piece, and his character Swoff is suitably confused/unsure/angry/sad at any given moment. Peter Sarsgaard (Flightplan) is under utilised, and his character is almost as ambiguous as the film itself. He’s aloof and enigmatic, but that’s about it, which is a pity since I know how much he is capable of. Jamie Foxx delivers another brilliant performance, and in recent times he’s certainly shown the extraordinary extent of his ability, from Collateral to Ray to Stealth. His Staff Sgt. Sykes is superbly unpredictable, and thankfully nothing like the typical superiors we’ve seen in war movies of the past.

As with Mendes’ previous works, Jarhead is incredibly beautiful (even without a floating plastic bag). Roger Deakins’ (The Village) composition is consistently sparse yet stunning, and the editing and soundtrack meld together perfectly to create a wonderfully constructed film.

The ending confounded me to be honest, and I’m still not really sure of the point of the narrative. The most controversial part of Jarhead is probably that is blatantly refuses to be just that. In a time when I’m sure all sorts of groups all over the world are ready to leap at the throat of the film, I’m thinking they won’t have much to quibble over.