FIRED UP Though ''Jarhead'' (starring Peter Sarsgaard) is set during Desert Storm, its themes are relevant today

Jarhead: Francois Duhamel

A 9/11 drama -- starring Adam Sandler?!?

Right now, you can see Sam Mendes' somber drama about a platoon of Marines bogged down in the sands of the Middle East (Jarhead takes place during Desert Storm, not the current conflict, but close enough). Or you can watch a movie about another period in American history — the McCarthy era of the 1950s — when dissent was considered unpatriotic (Good Night, and Good Luck, directed by the ''traitor'' on the leather sofa). Earlier this year there was a Nicolas Cage movie about American arms sales to African dictators (Lord of War) and a Ralph Fiennes film about drug companies dumping dangerous pills in Third World countries (The Constant Gardener). More are on the way, including Steven Spielberg's drama about the aftermath of the 1972 terrorist attack at the Munich Olympics, as well as several movies about the attacks on 9/11. Oliver Stone is making one about two Port Authority cops (starring Cage again) who get trapped in one of the Twin Towers; Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy) is lensing the story of Flight 93, the United jet that crashed in Pennsylvania; and Adam Sandler is in talks to do a drama about the tragedy too, playing a man still grief-stricken over losing his family in the attack. Yes, that Adam Sandler.

Granted, when it comes to seismic shifts in the zeitgeist, feature films aren't what you could call first responders. Many of the movies mentioned above began their production cycles well over a year ago, some much longer, but their arrival in theaters now (at a time when American deaths in Iraq have topped 2,000 and President Bush's approval ratings have reached all-time lows) does seem to point to a swing in the culture's attitudes about politics, or at least in Hollywood's. After all, when even Happy Gilmore is getting serious, you know something is up in the mainstream. In any case, there's no arguing that these films will be part of the ongoing national discussion over terrorism and the war in Iraq. The White House seemed eager enough to drag Hollywood into the conversation last week, denouncing Democratic demands in Congress for a pullout from Iraq as ''the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing.''

Just wait till they get a look at the policy positions of Syriana.

NEXT PAGE: Political undercurrents in Batman Begins and Star Wars

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