Jarhead
Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Peter Sarsgaard
Universal Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 25, 2008

Fighting enemies that you can’t really see and for a cause that you don’t fully grasp. That is what the Marines were doing in the Middle East in the late 1980s and early 90s for months and then years (they were slated to be stationed here for only a couple of weeks). Does that sound familiar in our day?

Sam Mendes shows us why he won Best Director for American Beauty. He was born to work the camera and he throws his patented touches in the film to show us what he really believes is going on in the minds and dreams of these rattled soldiers. Rather than look for or fight the enemy they sit and play cards, talk about each other’s girlfriends, and play football the entire day while they should be at home with their families and attending college. Jake Gyllenhaal is Sawford (based on the true story of this man, who also wrote a book in 2003 about his experience) and Jamie Foxx as the battalion’s staff sergeant. Jarhead shows us what these soldiers did to make the time pass and how anxious one gets in the heat of battle.