Skip to main content

American Sniper Review


American Sniper
Director: Clint Eastwood

Oh Mr. Eastwood, I knew you had it in you. After your last few directing endeavors (Jersey Boys, J. Edgar, Hereafter), I was starting to get a bit worried. Even before that, your style, more often than not, left me feeling a bit depressed. (Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby) While it's obvious you can tell a story, usually a heavy-handed one, we as the audience only have so much emotion allotted per film. And while American Sniper also deals with heavy subject and raw emotion, the direction here is done with a more gentle touch and greatly aided by the performance of Bradley Cooper who is, to put it simply, brilliant.

Cooper plays Chris Kyle, a man touted as the most deadly sniper in U.S. history. Having served four tours in the Iraqi War, he had 160 confirmed kills. There is no doubt he saved countless lives and his actions actually earned him two monikers. To us he is "The Legend", to the bad guys he became known as "The Devil of Ramadi" and had a sizeable bounty on his head. Bad ass. 

The movie opens in Fallujah with Kyle perched on a rooftop watching as a woman and young boy prepare to charge some of his fellow Marines with a grenade. In this moment, it is solely his call whether or not to take action and he must make the decision almost instantly. It is tense, to be sure. And while we know Clint can rock an action/war sequence (Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima), what sets this film apart is the change we see come over Kyle in that moment and in every subsequent moment. It then becomes a study in PTSD and how our soldiers must balance two very different lives.  Where do they really feel more at home? More themselves? Can they really ever leave it behind? Can they ever be the person they were before? The answer, sadly, seems to be no. And Kyle's poor wife, Taya (Sienna Miller) is left wondering what happened to her husband.

So here's the good and the bad. 

The Good: Bradley Cooper. This is his movie. His portrait of "The Legend" is effortless and poignant, which is good considering IMDB says the real Chris Kyle's father told both Cooper and Eastwood that if his son's memory was tarnished, he would "unleash hell." That's no idle threat coming from a Texas Deacon. Kyle is a hero. Cooper makes him human and wounded. Yet, although he seems to feel remorse he is no less resolved. It is haunting. And certainly a lot for any man to take on. 

The Bad:  Eastwood's portrayal of the Iraqi people. I feel he should have been a bit more careful here. We only see them as evil-doers hell bent on killing any American soldier. I know I wasn't there. I know I can't understand their mentality post-911 personally. But, I'm pretty sure there is more to these people than a cliche. 

The ending also leaves a bit to be desired. I won't go into too much detail in case you don't know Chris Kyle's story. (I didn't and IMDB ruined it for me with the trivia. Sigh. You've been warned.) Let's just say it feels really rushed, almost unnecessary. The pacing is very strange. I like to think that there was a little more to it but it was mishandled in editing. Maybe someday we will get a look at a Director's cut...although at 2 hours and 12 minutes, I really don't need it to be much longer.  That being said, Clint still got some tears out of me.

Mrs. Movie Snob gives it 7/10.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I'm back!

A while ago, my laptop died. There was no warning, no clue that something was wrong. As suddenly as it had come into my life, it drifted away and with it, my blog, my therapy...and a little bit of my sanity. There it sat in a drawer mocking me. With every intention to get it fixed a funny thing happened - life. You know, that thing that occurs while you're busy making plans? And just like that it was forgotten ... until a few weeks ago. A friend said, "Let me take a look." And here we are. The best Christmas presents are those that are already paid for, aren't they?! So now I find myself a few years later, a little older, hopefully a little wiser, most definitely a little more tired thinking of trying this blogging thing again. It seems so appropriate that it should start at the beginning of the year. I know, I know... all aboard the bandwagon . I'm not into resolutions, really. But if I'm looking at this as a new beginning, I guess I can set some goals, rig...

"Smile! It increases your face value!"

I'm usually in a pretty good mood. * I'm usually quick to smile; quick to laugh. I like to say "hi" to people on the street. I like to hug good friends. I like to kiss my husband. I like to keep it light and try not take it all so seriously. It's a conscious decision, albeit not always an easy one. Most days, though, I'm pretty good at NOT giving into the bullshit. Recently, in my Kickboxing class, (my new passion!!) I was paired with a 20-something girl for the partner drills. I greeted her with a smile. Nothing. I cracked a lame joke about how we should try to NOT punch each other in the face. *crickets* (Does she not realize I'm a delight?!) Then we started our exercises; me with a mid-level intensity and steady beat to the Flo Rida song booming over the sound system; her with an intense fervor like she was training for her next MMA fight. Now, I kept up. (Awwwww yeeeeahhhhh!) But I was (at first) more than a little annoyed. I wanted to say, "Y...

"The Nun" - My review

The Nun (2018) Directed by Corin Hardy *****Spoiler Alert***** Here we go. Another installation in James Wan's Conjuring universe. So far, it is #1 at the box office and that's really no surprise. It's predecessors were major hits and we were all hungry for another bite. We were first introduced to The Nun in 2016's The Conjuring 2. Like most, I thought she was absolutely terrifying. Unlike most, I suppose, I always find a seemingly random villain more unnerving. That air of this could happen to you  hanging in the air like an ominous cloud. But, the masses screamed for more and very quickly The Nun backstory was coming to theaters. Now, to be fair, when I found out they were making this I, too, was on board. I'm always down for a scary movie. I love to see them in the theater. Even when the initial reviews came back and weren't so good, that didn't deter me. I find it a very rare thing that a horror movie gets a fair shake. True lover's o...