Jarhead is the new Sam Mendes film, and I suppose for that reason alone, is worth paying attention to. It’s based on a book that came out a couple of years ago written by Anthony Swofford recounting his experiences as a fairly new Marine as he becomes part of, first, Desert Shield and then, eventually, Desert Storm.
I’m guessing that this is one of those films that didn’t get much military assistance from US forces, as the picture painted isn’t the prettiest one. We meet Swofford as he goes through his training drill, before he joins his unit and undergoes the kind of initiation that we can be absolutely certain doesn’t go on in Deepcut.
This isn’t a pretty picture of life in the forces. It’s not even as though there’s a great deal of action. Most of the film takes place in the Saudi desert as they just sit around waiting to go into combat. In the meantime, wives and girlfriends are leaving them, and they’re going stir crazy.
And that brings me to something you see in all too many US military films. I’ve no idea how accurate this (or any other) film is, but I wouldn’t want to serve with US armed forces if there was a good chance that one of my brothers in arms was likely to point his firearm in my face as he slowly went mad. It strikes me that there’s not a great deal of psychological profiling going when the recruits are dragged in. Actually, I guess that there’s less than ever these days with, I’m guessing, recruitment becoming ever harder.
The film does feel a bit long in places, and there are actually brief bits of footage that you feel could have been safely excised form the final film. But overall it’s pretty good. Whether it’s worthy of the Oscars that it’s no doubt in the frame for, is another question. But then, very few Oscar candidates are really that worthy.