Rent Jarhead (2005)

Jarhead - Jarhead review by CP Customer

Tipical USA film just makes them look silly and out of touch with the rest of the world.

it is a just look how good we are sort of film but comes across as unprofessional soilders!

Semper Fiasco (spoiler) - Jarhead review by Steve

The big screen adaptation of US Marine Anthony Swofford's controversial Gulf War memoir includes story elements commonplace in combat films, but it's more of a complex study of military psychology written as a grim black comedy. Consequently there is little plot but long paragraphs of narration taken from the book. 

This is mostly about the preparation for battle, from basic training to the warzone; and what the Marines do while they wait. And how destructive this is. It's the classic platoon story seen entirely from the point of view of the foot soldier. There is no impression of the big picture, just the loneliness, the bullying, the filth and the fear.  

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the sort of educated grunt who begins (irony alert) reading L'Étranger by Albert Camus on the latrine but soon gets absorbed into the ambient futility and misery, like camouflage. There's a fine ensemble support cast with Peter Sarsgaard a standout as the only Marine who retains much humanity.

What this does most impressively is explain why mental health issues are so widespread among veterans; it feels like their ordeal might have been intended to make them crazy... Ultimately, Swofforth doesn't even fire his rifle and combat passes him by. Yes he survives, but he is unforgettably marked by the experience.