He explored the worlds of American suburbia and 1930s gangsters with
superb results in his previous features American Beauty and Road
To Perdition. Now, British filmmaker Sam Mendes sets his creative sights
on the American Marine in Jarhead, a military drama that is
spit-and-polish in practically every regard, except the one that matters the
most: having a point.
Jarhead - the self-imposed name of a Marine which should not be
confused with Jughead from the Archie comic books - follows 20-year-old,
third-generation enlistee Anthony Swofford (whose 2003 memoir the
script is adapted from, and who is played in the movie by leading man of the moment Jake Gyllenhaal),
from boot camp in 1989 to active duty in the first Gulf War a year and a
half later.
Along with his fellow Marines, which include Staff Sergeant Sykes (Jamie
Foxx) and Troy (Peter Sarsgaard), his friend and mentor, Swofford heads out
to the Persian Gulf Region, sporting a sniper's rifle, hundred-pound ruck on
his back and a pent-up bloodlust for combat action.
But the deserts of the Middle East offer little in the way of a
violent, cathartic release. For nearly six months, the squadron instead must
deal with intolerable heat, the threat of Iraqi soldiers using chemical
weapons and, perhaps most deadly of all, excruciating stretches of
boredom.
Jarhead does have quite a bit going for it, with Mendes' assured
directorial hand leading the way. Aided by Roger Deakins' haunting
cinematography, Walter Murch's excellent editing and another unique but
unobtrusive musical score by Thomas Newman (he also scored Beauty and
Perdition), Mendes keeps the proceedings moving along at a very brisk
and entertaining pace. As with his previous work, he also gets great
performances out of his talented acting ensemble.
Yet, for all of its impressive qualities, the film comes up short of the
greatness achieved by Mendes' earlier films. The fault lies in William Broyle Jr's screenplay
adaptation. Without a clear purpose or theme, a lack of focus hampers the
viewer's connection with the characters and events on an emotional level,
despite the rock solid performances of Gyllenhaal, Foxx and Sarsgaard - whose
work is worthy of Oscar consideration.
Is Jarhead anything like Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal
Jacket, the war film it resembles the most, a darkly humorous look at
how the military and war turn ordinary people into killing machines? Is it a
commentary on how the foot solider is apparently of little to no use in
today's theatre of combat? Or is it an examination of the day-to-day tedium
soldiers face before, during and after wartime?
Were it that the filmmakers - and audience - knew, because at one point or
another, Jarhead is all of these things. By not choosing one as a
central theme or definitive point, Mendes and Broyles reduce what could have
been unique and remarkable into a film whose parts are much
greater than the whole.
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