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.
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