Review of American Sniper (2014) by Adlai N — 31 May 2015

With every war that the United States or any other country engages in, it has a startling effect on the films that aim to portray them accurately. While the technology and attitude towards conflicts changes overtime, the general consensus is that war is hell and will always continue to be. American Sniper perfectly exemplifies that fact with the true story of the most lethal sniper in American military history. Straightforward and honest while also thrilling, it lays everything out for one to see and gets into the psyche of the costs for serving ones country.

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) grew up in Texas where he learned how to shoot by hunting with his father and life lessons on being a leader, also from his father. He instills a moral code of not being a sheep or a wolf but a sheepdog that protects others. Chris later grows up to be a rodeo cowboy but begins to think that he could be doing more, so upon seeing the news of the United States embassy bombings in 1998 he enlists in the Navy SEALS. During training he meets his Taya Renae (Sienna Miller) and they slowly hit it off where they become eventually married with a son and daughter. But when 9/11 happens right in front of their eyes, Chris along with thousands of other soldiers are ushered off to the war in Iraq. Chris slowly becomes an elite sniper with every kill and takes on the nickname "The Legend" for his pinpoint accuracy and grace under pressure. But it comes at a heavy price as he gains the attention of insurgents who put a bounty on his head, begins to lose himself in the ugliness of war and detaches himself from his family.

Chris Cooper has become an unlikely dramatic force in the span of a short three years, making everyone realize that he is more than just a pretty face. It's well known that he has a great knack for comedy from the wild Hangover trilogy, the raucous Wedding Crashers, the sci-fi blockbuster Guardians Of The Galaxy and the cult classic Wet Hot American Summer. But it's drama that has mainly eluded him for a long time. But that all changed when he got his first Oscar nomination for Silver Linings Playbook in 2012, The Place Beyond The Pines was mainly forgotten but should have received much more awards love, then his second for American Hustle in 2013. Even his previous Oscar nominations had elements of comedy in them. But his Oscar nomination for American Sniper blows all of them out of the water to become his most powerful performance to date.

He takes the role very seriously and is very contained in his delivery while still using the very same charisma that has made him so beloved by audiences across the board. Even in a moody war biopic, Cooper still shines through the screen, his smile so very effervescent that it makes him a very engaging character. His southern drawl and charm makes him approachable, for a while until war rears its ugly head. He brings a quiet moodiness to his portrayal where his facial expressions do more for the film than saying it ever would. His quiet, pained expressions are increasingly powerful and you can see how his soul is being slowly drained of humanity as he attains 160 official kills while in service and 255 probable. His great facial expressions are only matched by his powerful physique as Cooper gained forty pounds of muscle to rightfully portray a beefed up SEAL. He has never looked more imposing as an actor who had a steely presence on screen that would drop most in their tracks.

The coldness is very present throughout the film and you can see how it built within him to garner the title of deadliest marksmen. You struggle to go down to his level and reason with him why continuing to go back to war, tour after tour is a great idea with his wife and kids back home begging for him to come back home. It's difficult to see him go through with it and put his wife through the ringer that he may not come back home. Cooper brings that needed earnestness to fully believe his convictions as right even if the ones he loves say that it's wrong. There are something's that can't be explained or reasoned with easily and Cooper brings that out effortlessly where you can sympathize with his desire to go through a situation that may cost him his life head on. You are placed in his shoes and what he has to deal with on a daily basis as well as the tough decisions that one has to live with if they want to be a consistent effective soldier.

This was shown rather well in one of the better scenes when he is tasked with possibly shooting a young child on two separate occasions that pick up deadly weapons with the intentions of killing his fellow soldiers. In both instances, Cooper portrayed fear, desperation, relief and frustration in the impossible task of shooting a young boy. His emotions were exquisitely acted and depicted that feels like you are there right next to him while placing the question if you could do the same thing. Miller portrayed what Cooper wasn't able to feel and was needed to accurately get into the depths of their strained relationship. She was also charming and strong whether it was shutting down Cooper who wanted to ask her out or confronting him face to face why he has to shut himself out from the horrors of war for the sake of his family.

One of the best scenes was Taya Renae calling Kyle about her baby being a boy and an attack happens right at that very moment. She begins to break down with the possible notion that he may be dead and she is hearing his death on the phone. It was a frightening scene that speaks to how war can come out anytime, anywhere, anyplace. What I also liked about it is that it runs counteractively to what everyone is used too experiencing war, mainly on TV's, computer screens and newspapers. Here it strikes her directly where she least expects it and experiences an attack right as its happening. With every tour that brought Kyle back, he became that much more distant which made Miller become that much more frustrated. Their opposing emotions made for some enthralling drama, a runaway freight train heading towards a steel reinforced wall.

Legendary director and actor Clint Eastwood has a forceful nature with his films and roles that often puts its intentions on its sleeves. That really isn't the case here and isn't saying a message about how wrong or right war is in general or how justified or not was the war in Iraq was. It just paints a man who wanted to do more for his country and use his gifted talents that were ingrained into him from a young age. Although he does veer into territories that are antiwar when Kyle confronts his newly enlisted brother who doesn't have the kindest words for the situation or a fallen soldier and friend of Kyle's who pens a letter before his death than describes his anguish and pain while in the war. It also spreads to Kyle who speaks up about how the war is getting little coverage while people talk on their cell phones and stay ignorant to the world events around them.

While Eastwood could have axed all the negative connotations the war has on the soldiers it's better that he left them in as it made for a more enriching story and you see how it affects Kyle in his later tours. It would be dumb to not include how people feel about the war in a negative way or how the war should be getting more attention, but at the same time not have it be the main focus of the entire film. It could have been easy to go into pro war sentiments, but it was altogether more approachable to have a more steady approach that doesn't risk alienating the audience. Kyle's story benefits from not having his opinions waver back and forth and use a more steadfast direction.

Eastwood is in top form here, breaking down Kyle's story in episodic fashion. One moment flows into another where time flashes quickly when Kyle is back home. He begins hunting with his father as a young boy then he is a rodeo cowboy, not too soon after that he enlists. There are specific chapters in his life that makes his story as a whole more encompassing. You don't have a need to go between the cracks because you're given all that you need. His increasingly engrossing tours slowly takes its toll on Kyle as well as you as you watch a man disintegrate into nothing. Kyle eventually tallies up 1,000 days while in service which equals about three years. The tours turn into an episodic saga as Kyle attempts to bring down a brutal terrorist known as The Butcher, Musab al-Zarqawi's second-in-command as well as a sniper as deadly as him called Mustafa.

Kyle becomes increasingly obsessed in catching both of these men as they pick off his fellow soldiers one by one and takes him out of his other role as a husband and father to his wife and kids. It was a great way to show how his two worlds collide into one where one is just as meaningful as the other in Kyle's mind. What initially started out as national pride began to falter every time Kyle went for another tour and his wife tearfully exclaimed how much his family misses him. It was a simply told story that went into the mind of a soldier who has a need to serve his country no matter the cost. The action sequences were exciting and thrilling while not reveling in the glory of killing another like an emotionless action flick. It doesn't aim to show how cool war can look but how damaging it can be in more ways than one and not so gung ho.

I loved how Eastwood used various elements to get into the mind of Kyle and show how his PTSD is affecting him. He begins to dislike being associated with the mythos of being a renowned sniper and feels uncomfortable talking to a soldier who he saved from near death. It's comforting to see a depiction of a soldier who doesn't want to hear how much he has helped and changed another's life. Normal, everyday sounds like a lawnmower going on or tools in an auto shop cause him to jolt his head in alarm and his eyes to bug out of his head. The mental breakdown Kyle goes through is a frightening thing to see. Another instance was Kyle constantly looking back in his rear view mirror to see if a normal car is an enemy insurgent. The music added another layer of intensity and dread to the imminent danger on screen, making certain scenes that much more thrilling. The sound of heartbeats, breathing, clicking of guns as Kyle is aiming his rifle slowed everything down to a stop where you see everything get broken down piece by piece. It made for an engrossing experience and something that was much more mentally involved than I initially thought.

American Sniper is very much a modern war film that goes beneath the depths of one of the most iconic soldiers the American military has seen in a long while. Gripping and honest, it doesn't quibble with its source material; even if Kyle has some controversy after his death that I just learned about. It doesn't matter in the end as what he did to get here matters all the most. For all the horrors and heartaches he went through, the ending makes it that much more heartbreaking. Especially when you realize the trials and tribulations he went through to come home to his family and in one piece where he ends up as the father that his wife and himself had always envisioned. He went through hell, four tours and a crippling case of PTSD that threatened to doom him forever but he managed to come out the other end better than before. But there was one instance where he couldn't come out the other end. If this movie can show one thing, it should prove how vital and important the mental and physical health of the returning American soldiers really is. To ignore their plight like Kyle did for so long is way too tragic and cold hearted for government officials to outright neglect. Four 2,100 yard kills out of five.