 JarheadMPAA Rating:
 for pervasive language, some violent images and strong sexual contentReviewed by: Jonathan Wooten Extremely Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Adults
Genre:
War drama, Action, Comedy
Length:
1 hr. 55 min.
Year of Release:
2005
Welcome To The Suck
Wow, this is one bleak movie. Its basic goal is to borrow the themes from the best Vietnam War films (“Apocalypse Now,” “Full Metal Jacket,” “Platoon”) and place them in the setting of the 90’s Gulf War. “Jarhead” is peppered with the music, images, and in jokes from these classics (the soldiers are even shown watching them during R&R). As with most cover bands though, it just makes you wish you had gone to see the original instead. There are no likeable characters or instances of redemption here. We follow a recruit (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his platoon from boot camp to the wars premature end. Our lead starts out as a bright but directionless kid whose family has a history of service (guess which war) and ends up coming home quite damaged. The sad thing is that this is not a totally inaccurate depiction of some soldiers, and the film is in fact based on a Gulf War vet’s book. But “Jarhead” ends up being such a downer because it leads us to believe that the vast majority of those who serve have their spouses cheat on them and inevitably come home a wreck. There’s not much spiritual content to mention. Jamie Foxx’s drill sergeant character is seen reading the Bible and thanking God for The Corps, but also has a foul mouth like everyone else in the movie. We learn little about Gyllenhaal’s characters religious beliefs other than he wants his dog tags to state “no preference.” It should be mentioned though that there are a couple of solid performances. Jamie Foxx truly has the chops. He plays an authority figure with an unusual amount of depth. Peter Sarsgaard is also a gem who steals scenes the hard way with quiet restraint. Like Charlie Sheen in “Platoon”, Jake Gyllenhaal is a serviceable narrator (though he obviously never got the memo stating that men shouldn’t cry in films unless they are a really good actor). Though set in the early 90’s the filmmakers try subtly to put it in the context of the current Gulf War. They want to point out that we are still in Iraq and the reasons mostly involve oil. This is definitely a worthwhile subject to debate but the film’s position isn’t particularly fresh. Jarhead makes no points that haven’t already been made or are worth paying ten bucks for. Possible Objectionable Content: Almost constant profanity and sexual dialogue, nudity and raw sex scenes, for a war movie, the violence is not that graphic, but this is still an R-rated film to the max. Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Extreme / Sex/Nudity: Extreme See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers. Year of Release—2005 / USA release: November 4, 2005 (wide).  POSITIVE Positive - …the list of “accurate” war movies includes “The Bridge on the River Kwai”, which has actually very little to do with the real historical events and was largely embellished by director David Lean. For a much more faithful retelling I suggest watching “To End All Wars” which was made under the supervision of real survivors of the camp. To pick another, “Saving Private Ryan” is not based on any one particular military figure, and uses plenty of the language that is being decried throughout these reviews. I am not defending “Jarhead” here, it stands for what it is without my help. …I watched this film with a friend of mine who was in fact a Marine who just returned from Iraq last month. His only comment after the film was, “Wow, that really sums up about everything I saw over there…” I would say that most people would be somewhat shocked by this movie, but anyone with a brain can look at the other movies Sam Mendes has directed (“American Beauty”, “Road to Perdition”) and realize exactly what viewpoint he will probably take here. The language is rough, it’s how Marines (not to mention people who aren’t Christians) talk. There is not really any physical violence, just some remains of air strikes. The sexuality is also there, but none of it is intended to be erotic in the slightest. It just contributes to the darkness of the movie… Positive - I thought this film was very thought-provoking and powerful, although, I don’t want to see it again any time soon. The direction by Sam Mendes and the acting from just about everyone in the cast was superb, especially the performances from Peter Sarsgaard and Jake Gyllenhaal. My best friend just joined the Marine Corps, so I went to see it with his dad. While I thought the profanity was over the top, I also realized that different Marines have different experiences, and while some of the aspects of this film may have seemed over the top, this seems to have been Anthony Swofford’s experience in the Marines, and I don’t see why he would waste his time and tell lie after lie. Not all Marines are squeaky clean role-models. Some of my friends have just come back from Iraq, and they’re not exactly sterling examples of discipline and good behavior. It’s a rough lifestyle for some. However, this film was very insightful, and gave you a good idea of what war is like from the Marine’s point of view. I recommend it, but with heavy caution. It is definitely not for anyone under the age of 18. There are three scenes of strong sexuality and ROUGH, ROUGH language. Positive - I watched this film with a bunch of friends (we are all Marines), and we thought the movie was great. Society portrays the women and men defending our country as these great saints who love their job. In fact, that’s the complete opposite for most military personnel I know. I think everyone in the military who is an E-4 and below can relate to this movie and see that this is pretty much how life is in the Marine Corps for a lot of men and women. A lot of them got to boot camp and realized that this was not something they wanted and are counting down the days till they get out. The language is offensive, it’s how every Marine I know talks. As for the cheating wives, in all honestly, most every military wife I know on every base I have been to has cheated on her husband at one point or another, and it is the same can be said for the husbands. I would not recommend this movie for children, but I can say from personal experience that this is the most realistic movie I’ve seen that portrays at least for my friends and I, the lives we lead in the Marine Corps. It doesn’t sugar coat for the world, our thoughts and/or actions. Positive - I was over there, and I think its about time they show all of the bad stuff that goes on both over there and on the home front. Its not the great War like WWII, and not all of the home front realizes just what we go through over there on a daily basis; it’s much worse. As far as the language and everything goes, sure it’s offensive, but its about Marines; it wouldn’t be accurate without all of it.… Positive - I am shocked to see so many negative comments about this film. My husband is in the Marine Corps and has been to Iraq. He loved the movie, and said it was an accurate portrayal of how Marines are mentally. I don’t know how many of you read the book, but that was the point of the movie—to show what Marine go through psychologically. I realize there was pretty graphic sex and nudity, and violence, and swearing, but that is a big part of the military life, like it or not. Marines are trained to be killers. When you have a job like that, you are going to be a little different mentally. Both of us are strong Christians, and very conservative politically. However, neither of us felt that it was anti-war or liberal. The only liberal thing was the comments about the war being about oil. Otherwise, it was accurate. War is crazy, and its not liberal to show that. Younger people or people that don’t want to see nudity or sex should probably skip this one. Positive - …JARHEAD is a strongly acted, well directed, fascinating movie that tells the story of one Marine in the Gulf War. The claims that the Marines are not like this are worth making, but no more accurate than the movie claiming that all Marines’ experiences are like this. If it were completely untrue, then so many Marines (and troops in general) would not be embracing the movie as their experience. And if it were the norm of everyone in Desert Storm, so many troops would not be decrying it. NEUTRAL Neutral - I myself am a Christian and a member of the Navy. I agree that this movie had many unnecessary elements and is not something I would recommend for younger people. Although, sadly, I believe it is a decent portrayal of military life. There are Christians in the military and faithful wives and girlfriends, however, many are unfaithful. Also, I believe that it portrays how many people in our military actually do spend most of their time in this war that we are in. There are those who do actually spend time fighting and facing actual combat, but there are still quite a few who spend their time just waiting for something to happen. Thus, they are forced to find ways to entertain themselves with what little they actually have over there. Add on top of this the fact that though most people in the U.S. CLAIM to be Christians, few truly live their lives in appropriate surrender to Christ, and you can see how that does accurately portray at least a part of the American military, including their spouses and significant others. I myself have seen climates like that in my work environment, and I’ve also seen clean, and more morally acceptable climates as well. Thus, while this movie does not portray all of the military, I believe it portrays at least an element of it. Neutral - I am amazed at many of these comments. Do not go to an R rated war movie and then get shocked when it is full of profanity and violence. Furthermore, if you leave the movie theater feeling “happy” or “uplifted” after watching a movie about Marines in war (or Marines anywhere) then you have just been lied to. What frightens me about much of the response I’ve heard about this movie is that it seems to me that people WANT to be lied to. Politicians AND civilians want to cram the experiences of those who fight in wars into their own ideas concerning “what it is all about.” I don’t see the so-called political messages so many claim exist in this movie. Most people don’t realize that the fighting man has little use for Republicans or Democrats or anyone else who quarterbacks a war from an easy chair or their living room sofa. Don’t go see this movie if you don’t want to be offended. Don’t go see this movie if you don’t want to watch 2 hours of immorality that ultimately seems to have no point. If you did and don’t like it, be thankful that you only had to endure 2 hours of it and not 4 years. Let me ask you, brothers and sisters in Christ, do you honestly believe that you might not find out something disturbing about yourself if you signed up to be a jarhead? Semper Fi NEGATIVE Negative - Anthony Swofford’s story made into a movie “JarHead” is so far from the truth of what our men and women in uniform are really like it is a slam to our country and a slap in their face. I served as a Drill Sgt. and was a paratrooper for 23 years. I never used such language and never permitted its use in my presence. Most professionals did not as well. The young men and women I trained never behaved in such a manner. The opening scene would have brought an immediate court marshal for the attackers on the recruit. Our soldiers are so much smarter than was portrayed and are much more disciplined. Swofford must have had some type of psychological issues to think his story was normal. Perhaps he saw such things, but his story is exactly what Hollywood loves, anti-American, anti-truth and anti-God. Don’t go see it and degrade our soldiers. Negative - I went to this movie because my husband requested that we see it. He is am ex-marine and trained at Camp Pendeleton. The movie was trash. I felt so disrespected and saw no honor even in the officers. My husband’s response was “it did not make him proud to be a marine.” In his Vietnam experience, he did not see men behaving so horribly, and he felt there was more comradeship than demonstrated and not so much cruel criticism and sarcasm over another’s pain. Negative - …I am so sorry I did not check the reviews on this site before wasting money on this piece of anti-military agit prop filth! I have not heard the F-word so many times in my entire fifty years of life. In the first five minutes, it is used practically every other word. I couldn’t believe it. I know that the R-rating should have warned me off from this, but silly me, I remembered that “Patriot” was also rated R and was an excellent movie, even though it contained quite a lot of violence. So, anyway, I though this might be similar. Big mistake! Do not waste your money on this movie. It is so offensive that my husband and I as well as the couple we were with walked out after no more than 10 minutes. I was so distressed at the utter filth and decadence attributed to our military. I should have known better than to expect Hollywierd, in this day of anti-war chic, to actually make a movie which positively portrays our military. Very disappointing and distressing to think of all of the viewers of this movie who will believe that this reflects the true nature of our valiant soldiers. OUTRAGEOUS! Negative - I was extremely offended by this this film from the very beginning and wish that I had left because the movie never recovered from the beginning. The opening scene involved extreme profanity and continued on showing next to pornography during it’s sex scenes, as well as masturbation, unfaithful wives/husbands and death/suicide. I believe that it degraded the meaning of war and the reason that we fight for our freedom. I went to this movie expecting war scenes and showing the reasons behind us taking part in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, but left feeling disturbed and knowing I had wasted my money. Negative - This is another deceptive, disgusting, anti-American movie that tries to convince you that most military soldiers are depraved idiots and that the war was only about the President’s personal gain. The inclusion of pornographic sex scenes was very offensive. If the subject of the scenes was so important to the plot (the highly questionable idea that most spouses and girlfriends were unfaithful during the time of war), at the very least, they could have been “alluded to” without actually being shown. Negative - Last Saturday night, my husband and I went to see Jarhead. As a military family—my husband served in Vietnam, my 19 year old son is in the Army Reserve—we’d talked about going to see it together, but our son was off at a monthly Army Reserve training week-end. However, we knew he might go with some of his buddies, so we might all end up seeing it anyway. When we got to the theater, it was fairly full—a good sign, we thought—and the movie began. 12 hours later, a few hours before church, I was still angry, outraged and feeling soiled and betrayed.… Negative - …the worst movie my friends and I have ever seen. We walk into the theater thinking it’s going to be a great war movie, packed with action and heroism. What we saw was the complete opposite. “Jarhead” was filled with the perversion of sex! I mean it’s sad when a girl knows that most guys are usually thinking and talking about sex, but when its all there on the screen, raw and uncensored, it becomes a little disturbing. I mean was it really necessary to throw in the masturbation scene and that… long and raw sex video scene? It’s sad to think that all of that could really be true and probably is. And, to top it all off, viewers adapt to hearing “f-this”, “f-ing mother f-er”. Another sad thing is that most people will still go see “Jarhead” after reading reviews saying “it won’t affect me,” that’s a lie. To truly see again what life is without God, is downright disturbing and soul-wrenching. I can’t stop thanking God for saving me from that kind of life. So basically, just don’t go see it, it is not worth your time or money or the energy you will use to put it all out of your mind after seeing it. Negative - Do not go see this movie. It’s very offensive and very anti-american. Take your money and go buy a copy of “Black Hawk Down” if you want to see a good war movie about how our military really operates. Negative - The was by far the worst movie I have ever seen. I thought it would be violent due to the “R” rating, but I wasn’t prepared for the sexual content. I left during part of the movie when all the “betrayal” in the relationships and sexual promiscuity was portrayed. Sitting on a bench outside the theater, I prayed that God would forgive me for going to see such a horrible movie and to cleanse my memory of the scenes I had just let my mind see. I left the movie feeling “dirty” and violated! I wish I had never gone to see it. Negative - Oliver Stone will be very happy with this adaptation of “Jarhead” and probably be a bit sad that he did not direct this movie himself. First, we have “Platoon” that picks out the worst things in American warfare during Vietnam, and then we have the bomb “A Thin Red Line” that completely lies about America during WWII, and now we have “Jarhead” that just makes American military look like uninspired and unpatriotic freeloaders. 2. A Bridge Too Far 3. We Were Soldiers 4. U571 5. Enemy at the Gates 6. Band of Brothers 7. Saving Private Ryan 8. Sands of Iwo Jima 9. Stalag 17 10. Bridge at River Kawi Extremely Offensive / 1½ Comments from young people Negative - DON’T SEE THIS MOVIE!! It was absolutely horrible. I saw it with my dad, and we could not even watch 10 minutes of it. It had a lot of bad language (especially the “f” word), and the sex scenes are disgusting. It was a disgrace to the “real” troops of America. It’s what you would expect from a Hollywood movie. It’s also a disgrace to Christians. Don’t see it. Negative - …I went to see this movie the day it came out with my boyfriend and a few of my close friends (one of whom just became a Marine). To put it lightly, I found this movie to be beyond offensive. I could not believe how disgusting this film was. My boyfriend and I agreed that this was the worst movie either of us had ever seen. We ended up leaving the movie before it ended. Positive - …everyone is greatly affected by the war for the rest of their lives. This is just one story of about 15 Marines—and 1 specific Marine. The point of the movie was NOT to portray every Marine! It was just one story, and from the Marines I’ve talked to very accurate! If you are looking for an uplifting story, you probably shouldn’t see this move… Movie Critics
…contains strong sexual scenes with nudity and over-the-top bad language… …muddled Marine drama says little… ‘Jarhead’ is more interested in the interior lives of men at war, particularly their sexual fantasies—and jealousies… …foul film… How this movie escaped an NC-17 rating is a mystery… Many people throughout the world will come away from Jarhead with the unmistakable impression that American fighting men are foul-mouthed, sex-crazed, homicidal maniacs and that their wives and girlfriends back home are unfaithful harlots… …The movie is uncanny in its effect. It contains no heroism, little action, no easy laughs… |
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