Jarhead (2005)
Part coming-of-age story, part military-training horror show, part bawdy male-bonding romp, and part poetic meditation on the murderous impulses of men at war, director Sam Mendes' Jarhead (opening Nov. 4) doesn't offer much in the way of conventional, audience-pleasing payoffs. It's about being worn down by fear in a combat zone where the war could start at any minute, but doesn't in fact commence for months after deployment. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a grunt who's molded into an expert sniper, then left with no chance to strut his stuff because the Gulf War is over in a flash. Peter Sarsgaard is his loyal, hard-nosed sniper-scout partner, but it's not a warm-fuzzy, buddy-buddy kind of relationship — no cute clips to push on that score — while Jamie Foxx (pictured with Gyllenhaal), the Oscar-winning star of Ray, takes a peppery supporting turn as a tough-love sergeant.
As journalists take in the film for the first time, Mendes is suddenly realizing that misperception could be an issue. ''I can feel people talking about the movie they expected to see,'' he says. ''They expected a much more specific political commentary about what's going on in Iraq right now. I think they were shocked that it was so comedic, and that it was so specifically about Desert Storm.'' The director, in turn, has been taken aback to see prerelease articles writing off Jarhead's impact sight unseen. ''I've read pieces about why this movie's already in danger of becoming irrelevant,'' he reports, looking incredulous. ''That the problem is, real-life events are going to overtake it. Huh? It's about Operation Desert Storm! How can events overtake it?''
Star Wars
Hollywood and the Gulf War: Get the scoop on ''Jarhead,'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and get our guide to earlier films about the first U.S.-Iraq conflict
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