Metacritic Movie Ratings
Jarhead Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 88

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  It is not often that a movie catches exactly what it was like to be this person in this place at this time, but Jarhead does.

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• 83

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman

  Jarhead isn't overtly political, yet by evoking the almost surreal futility of men whose lust for victory through action is dashed, at every turn, by the tactics, terrain, and morality of the war they're in, it sets up a powerfully resonant echo of the one we're in today.

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• 75

  out of 100

  USA TodayMike Clark

  What we're left with is solid if not exceptional, though it's good to see Mendes expanding as a filmmaker.

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• 60

  out of 100

  VarietyTodd McCarthy

  Part absurdist drama, part personal observational commentary and part hormonal explosion, all seen through the filter of previous war pics, Sam Mendes' third feature has numerous arresting moments but never achieves a confident, consistent or sufficiently audacious tone.

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• 60

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt

  Jarhead refuses to engage in its own point of view toward events it depicts. So the film feels empty and tentative, uncertain of what if anything these events add up to.

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• 50

  out of 100

  The New York TimesDana Stevens

  Mr. Swofford's book has earned a place alongside the classics of military literature, but Mr. Mendes's film is more like a footnote - a minor movie about a minor war, and a film that feels, at the moment, remarkably irrelevant.

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• 50

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan

  As much as we intellectually admire Jarhead, it's a cold film that only sporadically makes the kind of emotional connection it's after.

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