Jarhead

I thought this was a decent movie, albeit a little boring for my tastes, but probably quite interesting to those with military experience. Nevertheless, I think Jarhead will have great appeal to many, as it is a character study of one marine’s struggle with the lesser-known aspects of war.

Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) narrates this story of his experiences (or lack thereof) as a marine in the Scout Sniper unit during the first Gulf War. The film starts out with a very brief overview of Swoff’s dysfunctional family life and his hellish training during boot camp. Basically, this sets the tone for the entire movie, as Swoff’s service in the military is entirely composed of one crappy experience after another. Swoff is assigned to the scout sniper unit, where he is trained endlessly by Staff Sergeant Sykes (Jamie Foxx), an amusing and yet unforgiving superior, whose idea of punishment often includes humiliation. After several months of harsh military life, Swoff and his unit are ecstatic to learn that they will be sent to Iraq for Operation Desert Shield, finally being presented with the opportunity to utilize their hard-earned skills. Unfortunately, their mission is entirely defensive, having been ordered to simply protect the oil fields from Iraqi soldiers, which means more waiting rather than combat. Swoff and his unit now spend their brutally hot days with yet more training—navigating empty minefields, shooting at nothing, running chemical weapons drills, drinking water, and looking north in anticipation of a possible Iraqi attack. The relentless heat and mounting boredom make daily life frustrating, and Swoff usually fills the empty time with thoughts of the girlfriend he left behind, wondering if she will remain faithful to him. Finally, after nearly 6 months, the focus of the war becomes offensive, and Swoff and his sniper unit are sent out into combat through burning oil fields and more desert.

Jarhead is focused on Swoff’s character, inasmuch as he narrates the story, and everything that occurs is from his point of view. The combat portions of the film are toward the end, so the majority of time covers the growing restlessness and frustration of the forever-waiting troops. We constantly see the daily life of soldiers in the camp and their attempts to beat back boredom with various activities—reading letters, betting on scorpion fights, and burning pooh as punishment for misdeeds. When reporters come to the camp to interview the soldiers about their experiences in the war, Sergeant Sykes instructs them to say only positive things about the military, reminding the men that they signed contracts and don’t have any rights to free speech. Swoff’s sniper partner, Troy (Peter Sarsgaard), continually repeats the line, “welcome to the suck,” throughout the movie, and by the middle of the film the audience begins to relate.

Jarhead was an interesting movie, but certainly nothing one hasn’t seen before in terms of brutal training practices in the marines—whether accurate or not, it seems to be a common theme for films focused on the military. What makes this movie different, however, is its focus on the non-action that takes place when combat is not occurring, and the frustrations and tensions associated with such inactivity. This was definitely a good movie, although personally I found it slightly boring. Keep in mind that it is a character study as opposed to your typical war film, and with that in mind, one might enjoy it quite a bit.