One Word Movie

Jarhead

When I first heard about this movie, I really hoped that it would be about a head, in a jar. A little like They Saved Hitler's Brain. Unfortunately this was not to be. Jarhead is slang for a marine, and this is a Gulf War I movie. Plenty of scope for a sequel, then.

This film is particularly adolescent. Everything is booooring, no-one understands the hero, and the staff sergeant's an asshole, man. And while this is not particularly a new approach, the film suceeds well, because it's very difficult trying to make a film about boredom without making a boring film.

This film isn't especially radical, but it is good, and it serves up the basic elements well. Any film is improved by having a sadistic drill sergeant in it. Any film is improved by having the hero forced to swab the latrines. And it's not even a bad thing to bathe Jake Gyllenhaal in the Kurtz light from Apocalypse Now. It communicates the brutality of half a million grunts in the desert, and manages to make it seem almost enticing.

Jake Gyllenhaal does well as Swofford; he's an appealing actor, with his features that are slightly too large for his head. And he's also right on the cusp of parody right now. In a few years time he's going to get bored with his craft and lose it big stylee, but for now he's worth watching. And if he doesn't get bored, well, what's the point of having talent if you can't be bothered to piss it up against the wall?

posted by Chairman Peyote @ 12:14 PM