Compelling performances and impressive cinematography almost make up for the lack of plot in Jarhead, a movie based on the best-selling memoir of a marine who served in Operation Desert Storm. Jake Gyllenhaal excels here in the lead role of marine scout/sniper Anthony Swofford -- and will surely be remembered during the upcoming awards season. 

I’ve been a Gyllenhaal fan since seeing Moonlight Mile, a film that should have earned him an Oscar nomination for his heart-tugging portrayal of a young man trying to help his  fiancé's parents come to grips with her random killing. In Jarhead, this handsome, talented actor rises to the challenge again -- and we certainly get to see a LOT of him, especially in his skimpy Santa outfit. (He must be working out!) Gyllenhaal makes us feel the tension and anxiety of a man trained for war, then placed in a situation where he must wait, wait, wait instead of fight.

Along with the other men in his platoon, Swofford tries to find ways to occupy his time in a land of heat and sand. Some things are very juvenile and silly -- for example, teasing each other about their girl friends back home or betting on insect fights. Their staff sergeant  (Jamie Foxx) does his best to keep the men fit. “Hydrate and train,” is his motto. Foxx inhabits this role so perfectly that we forget he’s the same man who won an Oscar last year for Ray. And Peter Sarsgaard (The Skeleton Key) delivers a nuanced performance as Swofford’s complex sniper partner.    

Gyllenhaal’s real co-star in Jarhead is cinematographer Roger Deakins’ surreal depiction of the film’s setting, including magnificent shots of oil wells burning at night, soldiers walking slowly across the desert, and a group of Arabs appearing almost magically out of the dust. Five-time Academy Award nominee Deakins is a master artist, which his work in such films as Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou, The Village and Dead Man Walking proves. Maybe Jarhead will earn him that elusive Oscar.     

Jarhead emerges as a different type of war movie. It’s not the “hoo-rah” film the previews lead one to expect. Lacking in the usual thrills and excitement of previous motion pictures about warfare, it’s not easy to watch. However, the performances and images will stay with you long after the houselights dim.    

(Released by Universal Pictures and rated "R' for pervasive language, some violent images and strong sexual content.)