Jarhead

I finally saw Jarhead the other night. I'd been wanting to see it since it came out, but due to certain people wanting to see it, and then always backing out at the last minute, and me being the nice guy I am, I waited until it was too late. So I finally just netflixed it and goddamnit, this is an excellent film. I can't quite figure out why this film is so maligned...oh wait, yes I can, because "there was no action!", or something like that. Right? That's why my dad HATED it, that's why my mom thought it was uninteresting. Just a bunch of guys waiting around. And I guess that's just my bread and butter, seeing these interactions with people in a very uncomfortable and fucking terrifying situation. Regardless of how gung ho some of these guys are, there are probably more who really scared. Like Swofford, who admits to a news reporter when he is being interviewed that he is scared. "Why are you in the Marines?" the reporter asked, "I got lost on my way to college," he responds. And while he's the only one to really voice his opinion of how he's really feeling, you can see it on these guys faces. Mostly because they're all so young, and I think that is what this film is about. The effects of war on these guys, what Vonnegut might have called "The Children's Crusade." These guys, who go over and wait for an inevitible war, not quite sure of what they're fighting for, or what exactly what they are defending. Just that they are there, doing as they are told.

It's really refreshing to see a movie like this compared to every other blood and guts war movie that really likes to glorify the whole experience. Come to think of it, a lot of those films are anti-war movies, but you can usually bet that any major studio mainstream war flick is gonna be good for a ton of explosions, blood, guts, and a big heapin' dose of American pride. Jarhead isn't exactly an anti-war movie, it's a lot like the documentary Gunner Palace in the sense that we basically get a group of people (or characters) and just observe what they're going through. And then we're left to draw our own conclusions. But then again, Jarhead is still pretty left-leaning and yeah, I think any rational person can figure out that these Middle Eastern wars are a confusing mess and yeah, I think a lot of the soldier's get it too. Thankfully the movie is based on a memoir, and by anchoring the film in reality it has a completely different effect on the viewer.

I think Sam Mendes is pound for pound one of the best modern moviemakers that we have and really did an excellent job with this film. But it's really the cast that makes this movie what it is. Jake Gyllenhal, who'da figured that he was a pretty damn good actor? I mean, everything I've seen him in he's been good. Donnie Darko, The Good Girl, and Brokeback Mountain, yeah, he's fine but there's something about his performance in Jarhead that really made it believable. He just got it right. And then Peter Saarsgard, who is great in everything he does, is great here as Swoff's sniping buddy and closest friend. Holy shit that sniper scene at the end, Saarsgard just knocks that out of the park. And then Jaime Foxx as the Staff Seargent was just fantastic, and again, since I haven't seen Ray I've never really taken him seriously. Scratch that, he was great in Collateral but he's goddamned fantastic in this one. And then the rest of the guys in the troop are great too. It's just a great cast, and it's what really makes this film great. It didn't seem fake to me, and that's really the most important part of the movie. This is an important film. You should see it.

Also, I just IMDBed the new Clint Eastwood movie Flags of Our Fathers and realized that he is actually doing the companion movie which focuses on the Japanese called Red Sun, Black Sand. I remember reading about that months ago and I was like "no way" but shit it's apparantly in post production. AND he used all Japanese actors! Ha, that shouldn't be surprising. And man, I fucking hate Paul Haggis, who co-writes both of these films, I mean, I think he's one of the most disgustingly mediocre-writer-who-thinks-he's-so-fucking-great writers. No matter how many awards Crash wins, I still think it is one of the most unchallenging films I have ever seen. If ever there was a film that just spoon fed you everything, it's that movie. Guess what, racism is BAD, and HEY! Everyone is racist, not just white people! Oh man! Who'da thunk it huh? And hey! Why don't I steal the structure of Robert Altman's Short Cuts (which was stolen much more effectively by Paul Thomas Anderson in Magnolia) and think I'm so fucking original. Sorry, off topic, I mean to say that, regardless of this fucking hack writer, Eastwood, his Republican ties aside, is probably going to make a couple of really interesting movies. I think Million Dollar Baby is tonally and photographically a very rich film and I really do enjoy how Eastwood makes a movie. And yeah, he just redeemed himself, making the counterpoint movie. Ok that's all.