Jarhead (***1/2)

The tagline for this movie is "Welcome to the suck," but there's nothing sucky about it. This is an intense, funny, saddening and deeply human character study gussied up as a war movie. Imagine Full Metal Jacket, only better because it's actually just as interesting when the soldiers leave boot camp and head off to the war. I use "war" in a very loose sense of the word given that most of the film is about the downtime leading up to actual combat. Because this is the Gulf War, which was over in just four days, we don't actually get to see much combat. What we do get is a realistic portrayal of the boys and men serving as Marines, who've spent over three years training to kill only to find that killer mentality rendered useless overseas. The performances are outstanding: Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Saarsgard, and Jamie Foxx are all Oscar-worthy. Sam Mendes' direction is nothing short of perfection, and he keeps getting better with each movie. William Broyles, Jr.'s script is simple, direct, and powerful. The cinematography by Roger Deakins is the best I've seen this year. I enjoyed the lack of politics in the movie, though it is definitely anti-war, but then again, every war movie is anti-war. This is a great film. Those who knock it for being all build-up and no payoff either don't understand what the film was attempting or only enjoy seeing combat. This is a different kind of war film, and it's entirely refreshing.