"Jarhead" (2005) War Drama

Jarhead, directed by Sam Mendes, hit theaters in 2005. It was based off of former Marine Scout Sniper Anthony Swofford's memoir of the Gulf War by the same title. The movie follows Swofford (Swoff, as his friends call him) and his platoon through boot camp, Scout Sniper school, and finally through the war itself, displaying all of the tragedies and loneliness that occurred. This movie (and book I suppose) was not meant to be your typical war film with huge action scenes, big 'ol explosions, and tons of people getting killed. It was made to show the boredom and psychological effect that war has on the young men and women who are part of it. There are very few actual action scenes, but the couple that there are do a fantastic job of emphasizing how terrible it can be. The movie tended to be very vulgar, but I'm not sure what else to expect from a bunch of bored marines. Personally, this is one of my favorite movies of all time. I loved the topic, the idea, and the execution of the idea. Five out of five.