Jarhead (2005)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  8 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: Filmmakers have tried to bring the horrors of war to audiences in relatable ways for decades - be it with gore, sentimentality, political messages etc., but entering the fray of great directors to attempt this and succeed is Sam Mendes with a startlingly sensitive​ approach in 'Jarhead.' Yes this is a film where the realities of the war in question are made to feel genuinely tangible not through big set-pieces or emotional moments, but by slowly developing characters and making us feel their hopeless plight as small, idle drops in the big scary ocean of the first Iraq war. This only works so well though because you care about and understand the characters, and this is thanks in part to the great performances that bring them to life as well as the desperation of the true story built around them. All in all this makes for a far more personal war-movie than we may be used to, and in turn creates a very real sense of the horrible realities of combat in a consequently dower and rather significant and overlooked piece of film.
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: It does have to be said that once the characters and their desperation is fully realised, the narrative doesn't quite have the chops to keep you engaged into the third act before the touching final moments.
  VERDICT: A sensitive approach to the war movie, Sam Mendes' 'Jarhead,' is more of a dower character study than you might expect, and that makes for a brilliantly tangible sense of desperation and plight.

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