Everybody's a critic: 'Jarhead'

Four stars (out of four)

The film "Jarhead" was an unbelievable experience. It was refreshing to see a modern war flick that leaves out the politics. The director, Sam Mendes, ("Road to Perdition," "American Beauty") did a fantastic job of giving the audience tools to bridge a generational gap. Instead of creating a "blame the government" film, he took a much more humanistic and romantic approach.

"Jarhead" is the story of a young Marine sniper sent to take part in the Gulf War, and chronicles his training, his transformation and his struggle to make sense of what he's actually doing there. Everything about this film was close to perfect: the dialogue, the acting, the character development, and every dramatic scene was shot beautifully. And this is quite a feat; finding content, meaning, and emotion in the desert must have been trying.

-- Meghan Holcomb