American Sniper

As we've seen many war films throughout the decades, there aren't many that dissect a character that goes on many tours of duty whereas we see this man deteriorate as much as we do in "American Sniper". And the changes are subtly conveyed where you, the audience, may wonder, at times, if this guy is really going through PTSD at all. Unlike other war films where the changes are usually more obvious, the psychological aspects of this guy aren't so plainly seen.


Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) was nothing more than a Texan man who wanted nothing more than to become a cowboy, but as he approached thirty, he found out that maybe his life needed something different, something where he could express his real talent, something that could help America in its fight against terrorism. So he joined the SEALs in order to become a sniper, and he eventually learned to be a sniper so well that he had pinpoint accuracy and subsequently became a legend--anyone who knew him well called him Legend.
After marrying his girlfriend, Taya (Sienna Miller), Kyle and his fellow members of the team are called for their first tour of Iraq. Kyle's struggle isn't with his missions, especially since he was instrumental in saving countless lives on the battlefield, but rather is about his relationship with the reality of the war--not being able to leave the war behind, and, once finally returning home, how he manages to handle it with his urban wife and kids.

Others to round out the cast are Luke Grimes as Marc Lee, one of his buddies on the battlefield, Jake McDorman as Biggles, another buddy, Keir O'Donnell as Jeff Kyle, Chris' brother, Kyle Gallner as Goat-Winston, Ben Reed as Wayne Kyle, Chris' Father, Elise Robertson as Debby Kyle, Chris' Mother, Cory Hardrict as Dandridge, Kevin Lacz as Dauber, Eric Ladin as Squirrel, Sammy Sheik as Mustafa, Tim Griffin as Colonel Gronski and Luis Jose Lopez as Sanchez.

This was directed by the incomparable Clint Eastwood ("Play Misty for Me" '71, "High Plains Drifter" '73, "The Outlaw Josey Wales" '76, "Bronco Billy" '80, "Firefox" '82, "Sudden Impact" '83, "Pale Rider" '85, "Bird" '88, "The Rookie" '90, "Unforgiven" '92, "A Perfect World" '93, "True Crime" '99, "Space Cowboys" 2000, "Mystic River" '03, "Million Dollar Baby" '04, "Flags of Our Fathers" '06, "Letters from Iwo Jima" '06, "Changeling" '08, "Gran Torino" '08, "Invictus" '09, "J. Edgar" '11, "Jersey Boys" '14) plus others.  Eastwood is an incredibly accomplished director, but this has got to be one of his best productions in years. The nuances in Cooper's characterization of Kyle was delineated so well--he didn't speak a lot, but his expressions, certain tonalities in his voice spoke volumes. It was written by Jason Hall based on the book by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice. Part of the film was done as a flashback which became integral in setting the tone of intensity of this film, and the way this writer then carried the script from that point was pure genius. As I mentioned prior about the tonality, Tim Monich was Dialect Coach on this and the way he was able to get Cooper to convey that Texan accent, with all the nuances and subtleties, was amazing. Hey, this was the same dialect coach that trained Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond" to achieve that South African dialect. And Cooper himself gave a riveting performance of this guy who served four tours in Iraq while those tours were slowly destroying him. It's no wonder that the film and Cooper were both nominated for Oscars. This could be Cooper's year.

Clearly, this is an extremely sobering film, and with that it is a film that many should see. I don't say all, because it does get gritty and very intense and some may have a problem with these aspects. Otherwise, this is a movie where we can learn a good deal about fear, cunningness, redemption and salvation.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                      Rated: R                                   132mins.