Jarhead

(Drama/ War)
Release Date: 2006/02/24
Rating: R
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Peter Sarsgaard, Chris Cooper, Lucas Black

---By Cara Steenstra & Flora Wang Translated by Cara Steenstra

Based on former Marine Anthony Swofford's best-selling 2003 book about his pre-Desert Storm experiences in Saudi Arabia and about his experiences fighting in Kuwait. Jarhead (the self-imposed moniker of the Marines) follows "Swoff" (Gyllenhaal) from a stint in boot camp to active duty, sporting a sniper's rifle and a hundred-pound ruck on his back through Middle East deserts with no cover from intolerable heat or from Iraqi soldiers, always potentially just over the next horizon. He also witnesses countless horrors in Iraqi camps. The film also describes his conflict with his lover and his family, which forces him to consider the meaning of being an American, a soldier, a soldier's son and a man.