REVIEW: American Sniper

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There have been a lot of post 9/11 war films to come out in the last decade that seem to all blend together. They are always vehicles for freedom, the military, and overall Americana.  Clint Eastwood's American Sniper is one of those films, but it slightly shifts this status quo to make a devastatingly human war film.

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is a United States Navy Seal, and he is infamous for being one of the most lethal snipers in American history.  The film is about his true story, on how he finds his way into the Navy and becomes one of the most legendary snipers ever.

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The first act is very clunky, it feels like Clint Eastwood is just check off life events right after another to quickly give back story. A scene with his father and him hunting, him as a cowboy, falling in love with his wife, watching the Twin Towers be attacked, joining the Navy, and entering the war. It moves at such a strange pace that it creates a disconnect, and that stabilization is key to getting Kyle's character down.

When the second act hits, Cooper and Eastwood have finally found their footing. This is where the movie really begins and the story telling becomes rich.  When Kyle is in the war on his first tour, he becomes legendary for sniping the most enemies.  There is a haunting scene with Kyle having to take out a mother and child because they have a grenade that they were going to use on a convoy. This is Kyle's first kill, and it takes his toll on him because he never imagined that a child would be his first in what will soon be a very long list of deaths.

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When he returns home from his first tour, his wife and their child miss him. He becomes vacant, but wants to be there with his family, but the war is still inside him.  His wife tries to connect with him asking him what happened over there and what he's feeling.  Kyle cannot make a connection with her anymore because he feels like he needs to protect her from the war, but she doesn't care. She just wants her husband back.

As the film progresses, Kyle becomes more acclimated to the war and less to his home life. During his tours he finds a nemesis who is also a sniper. Once this sniper is introduced in the film, Kyle gains more purpose and drive. Its not just he is in the war to eradicate an evil he believes is over there, now he has a main target. Someone who's killed his friends and is almost good as a sharpshooter as him.

Chris Kyle posing for his photo for his book American Sniper
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Eastwood has created a magnificent  war film that is pro-military, but anti-war. Kyle's fellow soldiers show their disdain for the war, but they are happy to fight for their country.  Kyle's character is extremely interesting because his humanity throughout the film slowly goes away to cope with the war. It creates a strange dichotomy with his fellow soldiers. The more the war gnaws at his friends, the more emotional they become. The war is bringing out their humanity. With Kyle, his humanity slowly seeps back inside him. He looks normal all the time, but inside he is not. His friends look like they are struggling, but inside they are acting as normal as they can be.  The war left when they got back home. The war never ended for Kyle. Its refreshing to see a war film that focuses on the people this war effects instead of the politics in which it involves. I give American Sniper 5 Hulked up versions of Bradley Cooper out of 5.

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