Jarhead

It's easy to see why Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition) would be attracted to this story of a Marine's experiences in the first Gulf War of 1991, based on Anthony Swofford's autobiographical book, as it offers a wealth of opportunities to create striking images (including the burning Kuwaiti oil fields, and the famous “highway of death” littered with the skeletons of cars and trucks—and the cremated remains of human beings—courtesy of U.S. air power). Mendes and ace cinematographer Roger Deakins fashion visual jewels of surrealistic beauty, but a film needs to be more than just a succession of entrancing sights; it requires well-developed characters and a strong narrative arc, both of which Jarhead lacks. Rather, the film comes across as a random assemblage of sequences that don't convey much beyond a general impression that the conflict was an unholy mess affording ground troops little opportunity to utilize the skills they had gone to such painstaking lengths to master. Even actors as talented as Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, and Peter Sarsgaard can't overcome the almost schizophrenic nature of this scattershot film, which tries to suggest the absurdity of war on one hand, while lionizing the non-fighting combatants on the other. Not recommended. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, or a two-disc widescreen version, DVD extras on the two-disc set include two audio commentaries (one by director Sam Mendes; the other by writers Anthony Swofford and William Broyles Jr.), the 36-minute documentary “Semper Fi” on life after the corps, a 31-minute “Background” documentary on the real-life Marines in the film, a 31-minute “Jarhead Diaries” documentary, 11 deleted scenes (19 min.), the “Full News Interviews” (17 min.), and four of “Swoff's Fantasy” sequences (7 min.). Bottom line: an excellent extras package for a disappointing film.] (F. Swietek)[Blu-ray Review—Nov. 25, 2008—Universal, 123 min., R, $29.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2005's Jarhead sports a great transfer and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras include two audio commentaries (one by director Sam Mendes; the other by author Anthony Swofford and screenwriter William Broyles Jr.) found on the two-disc standard DVD release (but the other extras are missing in action here). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a “My Scenes” feature that lets the viewer bookmark favorite movie clips. Bottom line: although it received mixed reviews, Jarhead looks excellent in Blu.]