Before The Hurt Locker made stars out of its leading men, Anthony Mackie and Jeremy Renner, Jarhead saw two Hollywood bona fides in Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx in a riveting war drama of their own. Soon, folks can give the under-celebrated movie a watch when it’s streaming on Paramount+.
Released in 2005, Jarhead not only paired the two in-demand actors fresh off Jamie Foxx’s Oscar-winning performance in Ray and Jake Gyllenhaal’s blockbuster turn in The Day After Tomorrow, but put them under the direction of Sam Mendes. Mendes, who would go on to direct the seminal James Bond film seven years later in Skyfall, exercises his chops in Jarhead, delivering a gritty deviation from his greatest preceding, Oscar-winning success, American Beauty. The collective results are an atmospheric, harrowing look into the psyche of Gulf War-Era soldiers, absolutely worth shooting up to the top of everyone’s What to Stream in July charts and watch-lists.
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Jamie Foxx, Jake Gyllenhall Star in Must-Stream Sam Mendes Movie Hitting Paramount+ This July
The War Drama You Didn’t Know You Needed to See
Based on Anthony Swofford’s 2003 memoir, Jarhead follows Marine sniper Swofford (Gyllenhaal) through his deployment during the Persian Gulf War. Unlike traditional war films packed with action sequences, Mendes puts his players in a proverbial petri dish, examining soldiers dealing with what cabin fever looks like for soldiers stuck in the Middle East waiting for a war that won’t come.
Key Cast:
- Jake Gyllenhaal as Anthony “Swoff” Swofford
- Jamie Foxx as Staff Sergeant Sykes
- Peter Sarsgaard as Corporal Alan Troy
- Lucas Black as Lance Corporal Chris Kruger
- Brian Geraghty as Private First Class Fergus O’Donnell
- John Krasinski as Corporal Harrigan
- Chris Cooper as Lieutenant Colonel Kazinski
Foxx doubles down on his streak of serious roles (Collateral and Ray precede this role), playing the commanding Staff Sergeant Sykes. Peter Sarsgaard co-stars as Swofford’s spotter Troy, with Lucas Black, Brian Geraghty, and a young John Krasinski rounding out the ensemble.
Jarhead was a modest box office performer, grossing only $97.1 million against a $72 million budget. Like fellow war film Behind Enemy Lines, Jarhead spawned a handful of direct-to-video sequels, albeit devoid of its original cast or creative team. Yet, some of the most esteemed voices in cinema criticism hold the original film in high regard. Roger Ebert praised the film’s unique approach, giving it three-and-a-half stars and crediting it for portraying Gulf War Marines “who battled boredom and a sense of isolation rather than enemy combatants.”
For war movie enthusiasts or fans of the esteemed creatives involved, Jarhead will make the perfect Paramount+ watch when it hits the streaming service on July 1.
Source: Paramount+
Jarhead
Release Date
November 4, 2005
Runtime
125 Minutes
Writers
William Broyles Jr., Anthony Swofford