"Jarhead"
by Sonya Artero


Jarhead is a strong military drama that will entertain you no matter which side of the war debate you happen to defend. Jarhead is based on Anthony Swofford's bestseller about his real-life experiences in the Marines.

The movie, which has an all-star cast of Jake Gylenhall, Jamie Foxx and Peter Sarsgard is from the perspective of a grunt's view of the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the disillusionment many soldiers experienced during that war. Straight from the horse's mouth, Jarhead follows Swofford, a third-generation enlistee from boot camp to active duty in the Middle East dessert.

If there's one movie Gylenhall will be remembered for, it's this one, as he outdid himself as an actor who can really absorb himself in a role and come off extremely believable. Foxx portrays Sergeant Sykes, the epitome of a lifer Marine who leads the sniper platoon that Swafford is in. Likewise, Foxx's performance was just as outstanding.

While Sarsgaard is Swofford's friend and mentor and a die-hard member of their elite Marine unit, his role was not as memorable, although he did a decent job. The main plot of the movie centers around Swofford and his fellow marines as they attempt to entertain themselves in a country they know nothing about while fighting a war they don't understand.

The worst part of the movie entails revealing the severe boredom soldiers were made to endure during the Gulf War, however in my opinion, that's when the movie slows to a bore. The best part of the movie for me was the film-makers success of portraying a very real account of what it was truly like to be a soldier in a war chalk-full of events that were surreal, tragic and even outrageous.

In the end, Jarhead is a movie that will leave you feeling empty, which I believe is the producer's intention.