Film and Felt

Sam Mendes’ Jarhead is consistently entertaining, but it’s arguable whether that’s an asset or an indictment: while the snappy war jargon keeps the pacing brisk, there’s little sense of progress throughout, and there’s often a sense that Mendes took the easy way out while making this one. As an anti-war experiment, Jarhead is definitely an odd duck, focusing on the various reasons that young men join the Marines—as well as the mounting frustration and anger that plagued the soldiers during the Gulf War—instead of on combat. The trailers, full of rah-rah music mixed with reggae classics, seemed to hint at a meditative-yet-funky war picture; a blend of Apocalypse Now and The Royal Tennenbaums. As Jarhead comes to a close, though, without much evolving of the various characters, the audience is left with a distinct feeling of “that’s it?” While seeing Swoff (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Troy (Peter Saarsgard) emotionally crumble upon learning that they’d be deprived of that ‘hard-earned kill’ certainly resonates, smacking of the war-mongering bloodlust that plagues the South—and Iraq—today, the sequence is one of the few really honest stretches of Jarhead. We believe that Swoff and Troy wanted to taste the ‘euphoria’ of murder (thought it might have been even more interesting if they had tasted it, and realized that taking someone else’s life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be), but they’re not developed to be sympathetic heroes—as such, there’s no lingering sadness regarding the Gulf War, or its effects on the soldiers. Jarhead has a number of brilliant moments—an adrenaline-charged scene sees the Marines watching Apocalypse Now to get pumped up, for instance—but an equal number of gratuitous scenes that reek of shock value (was infidelity such a big fear during the Gulf War that we needed to see a home video of a Marine’s wife fucking her neighbor, taunting her husband all the while? I mean, this isn’t WWII; the men weren’t away for years). For a movie that’s pretty one-note in tone and theme, Jarhead is a sprawling mess.

Mendes’ first two movies—American Beauty (1999) and Road to Perdition (2002) were glossy, stylized pictures, characterized by bright colors (American Beauty), somber photography (Road to Perdition), and emotional hollowness (both). Jarhead is the polar opposite, but overly so; its grittiness often feels contrived. Gyllenhaal—who shows more range than usual—does the best he can to bring compassion to a character that’s difficult to root for; every seemingly heartfelt action that Swoff brings to the table is accompanied by a blown fuse or boneheaded move. Swoff’s at war for the wrong reasons, and it’s tough to forget it, or pity his fate. The same can be said for Troy, but Saarsgard falls prey to the film’s biggest flaw—his performance lacks any arc, save for the climactic moment behind his sniper rifle. He’s stoic without being a strong personality. Jamie Foxx isn’t bad, but his Sykes isn’t much of a stretch for him—a quick-tongued, slang-spittin’ caricature that’s full of spunk. Seems his 2004 bask in subtlety was ruined by the shiny Oscar he took home…

One of the biggest complaints I’ve read about Jarhead is its historical inaccuracy—I can’t judge that fairly, as I’m a film critic, not a historian (not to mention I was 13 when the war was going on). However, it certainly seemed like much of the behind-the-scenes stuff portrayed was over-the-top, and that’s not a good thing for Jarhead’s credibility. I have yet to see anything resembling a finished product from Mendes, and Jarhead doesn’t do a thing to sway my view on him: he’s clearly a talented guy, but too pompous for his own good (at this point in his career, anyway). For all the interesting aspects of Jarhead, there’s way too much filler for it to be more than a so-so picture. And there are plenty of those around today…given the topic matter and star-power involved here, I was hoping for something more.

© Gabe Leibowitz 2005