Jarhead - Collector’s Edition
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: B Film: B
Jake Gyllenhaal has had a tremendous year. In 2005, one of the best actors of his
generation has appeared in surprise hit Brokeback Mountain, the grossly
underrated Proof (reviewed elsewhere on this site) and the remarkably
overlooked Jarhead. The third winning film in a row for director Sam
Mendez after the hugely successful American Beauty and still-underseen Road
To Perdition, Jarhead is the film of the true story of how Anthony
Swafford (Gyllenhaal) joins The United States Marine Corp. At first, he thinks he has made a huge
mistake, but eventually finds his way and his new self within the Corp and the
story moves forward.
He also happens to join in the early 1990s, when the first
president Bush sends troops to Middle East for the first Gulf War. William Broyles, Jr. screenplay offers the
kinds of dark humor, dark dialogue and offbeat approach of Clint Eastwood’s Heartbreak
Ridge and Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, the two films that
haunt Jarhead throughout. Mendez
knows this and even acknowledges the Kubrick classic in the commentary, though
when he talks about not being able to shoot barracks without reminding the
audience of that film, it is obvious he missed the late Darren McGavin in the
key, underrated Vietnam film Tribes.
With that said, Mendez brings plenty to the table, including a great
cast that features strong work from rising star Peter Sarsgaard as his unstable
friend and guide, and Jamie Foxx as his Staff Sergeant leader. Both are intense, controlled performances
that are remarkable and further the distinction between this film and the best
of others in the genre.
Though the editing might not be what everyone liked, it is
more clever and layered than it first appears, as I noticed up-on screening
this again. We also get a new viewpoint
of this war; something Hollywood and the rest of the media at large cannot seem
to deal with. Though not as offbeat as Three
Kings, the film holds its own in some distinguished company and is not like
most of the films about Vietnam in the 1980s that were dangerously revisionist
takes on that fiasco. It is an honest
look at war from a well-written book by a very well spoken man who served his
country well and has a great tale to tell.
I have seen Swafford in real life in speeches from book tours for his
book and though some things may be familiar, he offers a new voice and view of
a historic situation that has been frankly under-documented. With such depth, it is no wonder so many of
the best talents in the film business made such a fine film of it.
The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image was shot in
Super 35mm film by the great Roger Deakins, A.S.C., B.S.C., and like his recent
work with The Coen Brothers has an advanced visual manipulation done through
its digital internegative. Unlike 99%
of cinematographers and technicians who do such work, Deakins is a few
generations ahead of his contemporaries, with the result being more seamless
than the usual generic work we see like this.
The only film in the War genre that it resembles, also about The Middle
East, is David O. Russell’s Three Kings from 1999. Instead of mindless blanket darkness or
monotony, Deakins works within the gray scale with impressive results, as if
the film were black and white versus color drained by morons like too many bad
Music Videos. Apple’s Final Cut Pro 4.5
was used.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is good, but not up to how good
it was in theaters, with the Dolby compression scheme only beginning to
demonstrate how good the mix was on this film.
The score by Thomas Newman (Cinderella Man, Erin Brockovich,
American Beauty, Meet Joe Black, Road To Perdition)
continues his prolific association with Mendez. Newman also did the score for Three Kings and does not
repeat himself much at all here. With
two audio commentaries, I guess Universal dropped the DTS option, but that is
likely the only way to fully enjoy what was intended. It still has its moments, but the final mix involved the great
Walter Murch, the master sound and image designer who also edited this film, so
detail is particularly vital in this case.
Playback is good, but not up to a total theatrical engulfing. The film is too good to miss though, so
don’t let minor performance issues get in the way, especially with little
in-jokes like the screen Marines watching the Murch-editing masterwork Apocalypse
Now by Francis Ford Coppola.
Extras in both editions include those two good
commentaries by director Mendez and other by the real life Anthony Swafford
(who wrote the book) with screenplay writer/adaptor Broyles, Jr.; both are
informative and entertaining. The
Swofford fantasy scenes are isolated on one section, while 11 deleted scenes of
interested are in another. You also get
the Full News Interview segments with the soldiers featuring optional
commentary by Mendez. All are solid,
but I really enjoyed the outstanding featurettes about real Marines and their
life experiences exclusive to the Collector’s Edition. Semper Fi (36:09) talks about
Marine life today and what it involves before and after, while Background
(31:10) digs even deeper into the Marine experience and talks about the journey
from civilian, to the severe changes it takes to become a marine, to then going
back to re-assimilating into civilian life.
There are some adjustments, adjustment disorders, flashbacks,
post-traumatic stress syndrome and other issues that the press tends to ignore
too much. These men and women never get
enough credit for what they have been through and these exceptional specials
are a real tribute to and education about the man and women who literally put
their lives on the line like few others to protect the country. Even when Jarhead itself drifts left
of center, which this critic did not mind one bit, these works are as
inarguable as the quality of the film itself.
Jarhead is one of 2005’s best films and its arrival on DVD should
get it the audience it deserves. With
the Collector’s Edition extras in particular, Universal once again has done
justice to yet another recent key film in their catalog.
- Nicholas Sheffo
