Jarhead

Jake Gyllenhaal has no ear for music as he hams it up as Swoff.

Herald rating: * * *

There's a great war movie within Jarhead. Unfortunately, it's called Apocalypse Now.

In a memorable scene of this film about US Marines trained to kill but not getting anybody to shoot in the first Gulf War, a lounge full of grunts is scene-singing along to the Wagner theme behind Coppola's famous helicopter-strafing scene.

For them Apocalypse Now isn't an anti-war film, it's inspiration - and so is every other Vietnam film they grew up on.

And when The Doors' The End - also used in Apocalypse Now - is heard spilling from a helicopter flying past, Anthony "Swoff" Swofford (Gyllenhaal) complains: "That's Vietnam music ... can't we get our own music?"

But there's no sign of Metallica's Enter Sandman or any other grunt-friendly hits of the early 90s. Instead, director Mendes answers Swoff's question by throwing Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry Be Happy into the soundtrack.

It's one cute irony among many here. But as they pile up they seem to undercut the deeper intent of the original Swofford's memoir, Marine's Chronicle Of The Gulf War And Other Battles, on which this film is based.

Here, Mendes, as he did with his previous gangland anti-thriller Road to Perdition, strives to deliver something that hopes to rise above its genre predecessors and illuminate us about the effect of violence on a man's soul.

Trouble is, all Jarhead does for the most part is remind us of every US Marine boot-camp film we can remember.

And then by the time Swoff and his squad get sent to war there isn't really a war to fight.

Certainly, the depiction of the blood and oil-soaked desert of Gulf War I is a visual marvel, care of cinematographer Roger Deakins.

And there are impressive performances from Gyllenhaal, although more so from supporting players - Sarsgaard as the spotter to Swoff's sniper, and Foxx, who manages to inject some humanity into the cliche of the drill sergeant.

But Jarhead fails to connect or engage on too many levels.

It's barely political despite its setting. It's not much of a character study - and the Swofford of the book has had a few dimensions carved off him on his way to the big screen.

And if it's "war porn" you're after like those grunts watching Apocalypse Now, the best this offers is some friendly fire and a game of American football in gasmasks.CAST: Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx
DIRECTOR: Sam Mendes
RATING: R16, violence
RUNNING TIME: 124 mins
SCREENING: Village, Hoyts, Berkeley cinemas from Thursday