Review of American Sniper (2014) by Grant D — 16 Aug 2015

I'm VERY VERY late to the party on this one. American Sniper is now the highest grossing domestic film of 2014 and the highest grossing war film ever. I first heard of Chris Kyle when he claimed to have punched out Jesse Ventura (which I totally believed) and then that he had written a best selling book about his life and tours of duty. When I heard that they were making a movie based off his book, I was genuinely interested and apparently everyone else was too. Director Clint Eastwood was also a big selling point for me and this is easily his best film since Letters from Iwo Jima and Gran Torino.

I've seen so many war movies over the years and American Sniper is a very fresh take on the genre. Most stories of war have a central character, but also have a large cast of supporting characters and the story usually follows the team as a whole. Sniper seems to be more of a character study than a generic war story.

The movie is constantly focused on Chris Kyle and what he personally goes through as a kid from Texas, a Navy Seal, and a family man and Bradley Cooper is fantastic as Kyle. There are supporting characters who serve their purpose and Sienna Miller is good as the wife, but they're all there for Kyle to react and relate to. Cooper really does carry this movie on his shoulders and he knocks it out of the park. He is dedicated, simple minded, noble, stubborn, and almost mythic.

One of the film's big strengths is the pacing. Kyle served four tours overseas and the movie covers them all, but it also covers his time at home between tours and the emotional toll it takes on him and his family. This constant change in scenery kept the pace brisk and kept me as viewer engaged.

The Iraq scenes are also very intense. You really get a believable sense of the role snipers play in warfare and what they bring to the battlefield. There is also a really interesting sub-plot of Kyle having a running years-long duel with an enemy sniper that comes to a head in a very satisfying way.