thePeanutBloggery

It’s supposed to snow this Friday night, and HBO is airing Jarhead, so snuggle up in front of your television and catch a small glimpse of what it may be like for all those boys over there in the desert. Adapted from Anthony Swofford’s 2003 memoir about life as a Marine during the Persian Gulf War, this testosterone saturated film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Swoff, a reluctant scout sniper who finds himself bored and frustrated by the lack of combat action during the short war.

No, this isn’t a great film. As is often true with memoirs, it is unbalanced and the end is dissatisfying. What makes Jarhead so worth watching is the rare view of modern Marine life. We movie watching civilians have obtained a sense of the military from films about World War II and the Vietnam War. However, these aren’t the disciplined and repressed young men from Platoon and Saving Private Ryan. These boys taunt their superiors and question their orders. Obsessed with killing, they are wild dogs who tackle and torture each other in the name of male bonding, sustaining more harm waiting for the war to start than fighting in it.

The cast is packed with powerful actors who elevate screenwriter William Broyles Jr.’s (Apollo 13, Flags of Our Fathers) unexceptional script, including Peter Sarsgaard as Swoff’s spotter Troy, and Jamie Fox, who is reminiscent of Louis Gossett, Jr. as Staff Sergeant Sykes. But ultimately it’s Gyllenhaal who carries this film. Evolving from doe-eyed innocence to weathered disdain, he kills time in a war that is simultaneously middle school recess and a smoky hell where it rains oil.

Watch Jarhead on HBO2 Friday at 8pm, or watch it anytime until February 25 on HBO On Demand.