I have been excited about Jarhead
ever since the release of the first trailer. I have also been hoping to
hear Jake Gyllenhaal
go on a rant like the one he does in Donnie Darko about the 'smurf
orgy', and this film leaves him open to many possibilities. However, it
wasn't until recently that I heard Jarhead was very limited on action...
something I really shoot for in a 'war film.'
Now the big question is whether the lack of action and the philosophical
dialogue is enough to capture an audience.
Jarhead Early Review
According to Variety,
Jarhead is a solid film; even though it comes under a flag of mixed
criticism. Actually, one of my favorite parts is when Todd McCarthy compares
the film to Three Kings. I have done this repeatedly in the past
and have received tons of flak for it. What now?
"Are we ever going to get to kill anyone?," a young Marine asks after waiting for months in the Arabian desert for the Persian Gulf war to begin. The negative answer for him and his pumped-up fellow grunts who get sent home without seeing any real action makes "Jarhead" a different kind of antiwar film -- a war film without a war. Part absurdist drama, part personal observational commentary and part hormonal explosion, all seen through the filter of previous war pics, Sam Mendes' third feature has numerous arresting moments but never achieves a confident, consistent or sufficiently audacious tone. Quasi-topical release pushes enough buttons to make this a solid B.O. performer for Universal with review-conscious and young auds alike.
As a Hollywood take on the United States' initial offensive against the dictator commonly referred to here as Saddam Insane, "Jarhead" doesn't come close to the first one, David O. Russell's "Three Kings." Nor does it self-importantly try to offer even covert commentary on what's going on in Iraq today. Rather, Vietnam vet screenwriter William Broyles Jr. has used Anthony Swofford's bestselling 2003 tome to create a bemused study of what it was like to be a soldier primed for action in a war in which ground troops were rendered almost irrelevant by air power.
Not as good as Three Kings you say? What
the hell... enroll me anyway.
Jarhead comes to theatres on November 11th.
For the teaser poster, movie info and synopsis, go to the Jarhead
Movie Page.
Jarhead
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