Jarhead: Universal

Jarhead

RELEASE DATE Nov. 4

WHY WE CAN'T WAIT Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes re-ups for another tour of American duty with this timely look at U.S. troops fighting Iraqi forces.

THE PREMISE Marine ''Swoff'' (Jake Gyllenhaal, pictured) goes from boot camp to the front lines during the 1991 Gulf War.

SOURCE Anthony Swofford's best-selling 2003 memoir

THE BACK STORY ''I was enthralled by the mixture of machismo, comedy, surrealism, [and] observation,'' Mendes says of Swofford's tale. As for what drew Peter Sarsgaard, who plays a sniper-squad leader, he says, ''My uncle died in Vietnam. My father was in the Air Force. My relatives always served… and I think that probably informed who my character becomes.''

BURNING QUESTION Are audiences ready for a gritty, irreverent look at Americans fighting in the Middle East, even at a 14-year remove from today's headlines?

COME FOR A very buff Gyllenhaal, who should do for extreme heat what he did for ice-age cold in The Day After Tomorrow

STAY FOR Oscar winners Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper as Gyllenhaal's comrades-in-arms