Jarhea is a 2005 film based on U.S. Marine Anthony Swofford's 2003 Gulf War memoir Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Swofford. The title comes from the slang term used to refer to Marines (sometimes by Marines themselves). The film was directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes, most famous for his 1999 film American Beauty.