I can count on one hand the number of movies that have profoundly moved me and changed the way I look at the world around me.  Two of them now have been directed by Sam Mendes.  The first was American Beauty.  The second is Jarhead starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, and Peter Sarsgaard.

 Many times a “war movie” is really not about war at all.  This is one of the first times that a movie like this was actually about war.  It’s about marines and what war means to them and what war (or the lack there of) does to them.  It’s not political either, despite rumors of the opposite and it’s not really about one character.  Unlike popular media, the military is comprised of uniquely different individuals.  They share many of the same sacrifices, but they deal with them differently.  Gyllenhaal’s character, Anthony Swafford, is just a representative, and like he says in his book, this is not truth or fiction, it’s just his perspective.  Well it’s a perspective that lends itself to a much better understanding of our armed forces.

 Ironically this movie is not negative or positive.  It seems unabashedly real.  Our military is trained for war.  They are ready for combat.  The entire design and each individual marine’s entire purpose, is to go to war to fight, to kill, and to win.  We sit in our comfortable houses thinking any marine that wants to kill is a blood thirsty lunatic.  Yes, that exists, but just because they want to kill, does not mean they are crazy.  That is what they are trained to do.  That is their purpose.  That is their entire existence.  Many gave up their lives and many of them are only twenty (like Swafford), and this is their life.  It’s like the brain surgeon that gets excited to operate.  That is someone’s unfortunate event that is allowing him to operate, but he’s excited for the opportunity because it’s what he is trained to do.  Without brain surgery, he loses a lot of his identity.  This was a huge revelation for me during this movie.

 Jarhead is an extremely well acted, well directed, and well-produced film.  The story is told almost flawlessly and in a very interesting way with some extremely memorable lighting.  The acting, especially by Gyllenhaal, is some of the best ever for this genre.  And the music selected for this movie fits perfectly and adds an amazing energy to the movie.

 So How Does It End?

 The most powerful scene of the movie for me came at the end.  The marines had returned home after a successful four-day war in Desert Storm (however they were there for months prior for Desert Shield).  They are on a bus being cheered enthusiastically by America when a veteran of the Vietnam War steps on the bus to congratulate them.  The rawness of this character as he says, “Semper Fi” to the marines and then asks if he can ride with them is profound.  This moment is punctuated by Swafford’s voice over saying, “Every war is different; every war is the same.”

 

 The price these marines pay to protect our country is immeasurable and it never really leaves them.  This film makes you look closely at who they are and what they give up.  I give it five out of five.