Review of American Sniper (2014) by Richard Corliss for Time — 03 Jan 2015

It shows Eastwood, at 84, in his finest directorial effort since the 2008 "Gran Torino," while painting on a much broader canvas. Utterly in command of his epic material, he films the Iraqi action in terse, tense panoramas with little cinematic editorializing, as if he were an old Greek or Hebrew God who is never surprised at man’s ability to kill his fellow men, or to find reasons to do so.

Directing 34 films over 44 years, Eastwood has honed his craft to its essentials: make it seem as if the story is telling itself.