Rating:
This is a serious movie. It’s spun as a “thriller,” but don’t go expecting James Bond or anything like that. If you get the DVD, watch Spielberg’s introductory. It does set the stage well so you know what he’s trying to do here. And that is to more or less go back to the first terrorist incident to capture American attention (or at least hold its interest for a few days) and follow how it played out. Pretty heady subject matter given the “Post 9/11 World” we live in.

The story is “based on actual events” but is still somewhat fiction. Partly because the actual records are classified. The film traces what happened following the killing of the Israeli Olypmpic team by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich games in 1972. And that was to clandestinely hunt down those responsible and kill them.

“Disappointment” is the only word I can muster to describe these two movies. Jarhead was supposed to be the definitive war movie of a generation, and The Ringer had the look of a classic slapstick comedy movie along the lines of a Farelly Brothers movie. Close, but no cigar in both cases.

[rate 3]
Lets start with Jarhead. There is a lot to like about the movie. It is well made and authentic in detail. From people’s comments who served in Desert Storm, it portrays the rigors of gearing up for a war that was over in half a week. The acting is good, the dialog and interaction between the characters believable.

But there are some things that don’t make sense. Like a pair of A-10′s firing on friendly troops less than a quarter mile from the Marines’ jump-off positions. A few miles in, sure. But not so close to the encampment. Then the main characters are trained as scout-snipers, yet spend the ramp-up time just killing time with the rest of the company. They weren’t sent out on scouting and intelligence operations like they were trained for. Maybe this is what really went on, but it made no…