Jarhead

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I enjoyed it myself. I thought the acting was good, and it definitely helped seeing Jake's nekkid tush several times.

Having dated a Marine for 4 years, I thought it was a pretty accurate portrayal. Definitely worth the money I spent to see the late show, even though I had to sit next to a rude SOB who kept invading my chair space.....

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I thought it was excellent. I am sad that it is getting such poor reviews (especially the criticisms of the performances - which I thought were uniformly FANTASTIC). I do agree that people expecting a major dramatic arc and battle scenes will be disappointed but I thought it was amazing in and of itself. I have been a fan of Jake G. since Donnie Darko but I didn't know he had this kind of performance in him. It was like he took Tobey Maguire at his best, channeled him and produced something even better. Does that make sense? Jake really is shaping up to be one of the great actors of his generation. Peter Sarsgaard, Chris Cooper (in a very small role) and Jamie Foxx were also amazing - elevating thinly drawn supporting parts with their own acting abilities and personal charisma.

Next to The Constant Gardener, this was the best movie I have seen all "year" (meaning the Awards Season year not the calendar year).

[heavenwithagun]

I don't know where else to put this comment but we are getting bombarded with war and terrorist movies. Last night (before Good Night and Good Luck--congrats to Clooney) I saw trailers for Annapolis, Syrianna (sp?) and another terr movie about suicide bombers.

I don't know why they think we want to see this stuff.

I would like to see Jake's performance in this but don't think I can subject myself to it.

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I would like to see Jake's performance in this but don't think I can subject myself to it.

In a strange way, there isn't much to subject yourself to (and Jake is fantastic - perhaps his best performance... ever! but I have too much love for Donnie Darko to really say that with conviction). The movie is (to paraphrase some of the more positive reviews) a giant pricktease. All build-up and no pay-off. These marines get taken and turned into killing machines and are put into a situation where that training to the point of obsession will be put to use and they do... nothing. They dick around in the desert and jerk off (a lot) and that is about it. The movie builds on this frustration but there is no normal war movie build-up where the guys train, become best friends forever, go into the shit where one gets shot and the other puts his hand in a pile of goo that was once his best friend's face. This is just all build up and no climax. I think it frustrates people, but I thought the movie really worked.

[heavenwithagun]

Yeah, I knew it was about waiting around and nothing (well, no combat) happening ThursdayNext, but just the whole idea of young men being made into killing machines and being sent off to wait and wonder if they'll be killed or maimed was what would be hard for me not a lot of stuff blowing up.

I remember the news stories around that time and the real guys who were waiting to learn their fate. It was nerve wracking. If they diffused that kind of tension with the guys being funny or weird, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad but I still hate war movies and that alone will keep me away.

I'll see him in Brokeback unless I chicken out. That's going to be pressure packed.

[ladymadonna]

I just got back from seeing this and I loved it! I'm not a huge fan of war films, and I kind of liked the anticlimatic ending; after all, isn't life usually anticlimatic?

Plus, as has been mentioned, Toothy Tile's FINE tushy was worth the price of admission alone. That scene where he's wearing the santa hat(s)? Priceless!

[bklynred]

I saw this a few weeks back... Honestly, I think none of my friends saw it when they heard there was no gunplay involved. Still I found I was tense throughout from the anticipation of violence. And knowing that these guys wanted to "get some" so bad, you know? I definitely left the theater depressed, considering our current political/military state.

That being said, the level of testosterone onscreen helped lighten my mood. Peter Sarsgaard has never looked so good. Not a whiff of art flick about him. Jake's a given--he was in wicked good shape, scarily so.

[MrsCatHead]

Just saw this last night. Um, is it just me or is Lucas Black Hot As Hell? I sat there just thinking, OMG that's the SlingBlade kid!

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Oh man. I was floored by how hot I thought Lucas Black looked. I remember being surprised at his appearance in Friday Night Lights and then Jarhead just sealed the deal. Boy grew up to be hot!

Not that he had a thing on Jake, but the movie was full of all sorts of hot men. I hope that isn't why I liked it so much!

[kafka]

I rented this last night and I think I loved it. I think. Honestly, I'm a bit ambiguous about how I feel which is not only rare for me but also totally unexpected when it comes to a military film.

For one thing, I have a weakness for military men and a good 40% of my ex-BFs, if not more, have been Special Ops. For another, I have a huge fondness for the Marines in specific because one of them really saved my life in a way. (Which is why I watched the film last night wearing my "Marines" t-shirt and USMC sweatpants.) In addition, half my friends are military and/or Marines. (BTW, the other half are gay, which creates an interesting dichotomy.... heh). And most war movies are on my list of favorite films ever.

So I was fully prepared to love this. And I should have. I should have been frothing at the mouth in joyous praise. But... I don't know.... <shrug>

I did love the remarkable realism of the First Gulf War. One of my best friends was stationed at Pendleton; three friends were in Desert Shield/Storm; and an ex of mine who was a Special Forces officer there died a few years ago of something which not even USAMRID could diagnose (but which was probably Gulf War Sickness). Their stories about their time in bootcamp or Iraq were similar to what the movie portrayed.

It was like hearing a damn echo, right down to the games they would play. (Except for the football game in gas masks. That didn't seem plausible at all given the attitude of the officers I've known towards the men, and how much slack they gave them during the long waiting-around period.) Watching the film made me feel as though my friends were in the room and I felt particularly nostalgic over the death of my ex. I could also understand about the soldiers' difficulty in adjusting to life after the war, their loneliness and emptiness because I've seen/heard all that first hand.

But when the film finally finished, somehow I wasn't blown away. All day, I've thought about why I was still ambiguous and hesitant in liking the film. Maybe it hit too close to home. Or maybe there is really nothing to commend this film apart from its realism. I've seen realism in other military films like Bravo, Two Zero (with Sean Bean!!), Black Hawk Down, Thanks of a Grateful Nation (2 thumbs up and several paws too!) or in series like Over There. Somehow, I was more viscerally and deeply impacted by each of those than by this film, even though there was every reason for me -- of all people --- to be chanting its praises from rooftops.