Review 340: American Sniper

American Sniper is an intense, gut-renching war film, a brilliant character study, one of Clint Eastwood's best films and a showcase for another great performance by Bradley Cooper.

Based on the memoir, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) takes his sole mission -- protect his comrades -- to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of insurgents. Despite grave danger and his struggle to be a good husband and father to his family back in the States, Kyle serves four tours of duty in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.

The plot is an emotionally heartbreaking, visceral, gripping and sometimes thrilling war film.

Firstly, I feel the need to state that I don't see this as a war film, I mean yes it's a war film by genre but at its heart, it's the story of one man, a man who not only loved his country, but also his brothers in arms and his family who fought for the country he loved.

But we also see how the war takes its toll of Kyle and how he suffers from PTSD, stress of failure in war, survivors guilt over the loss of his soldiers and the difficulty of adjusting to life with his family when he's not on the battlefield and Cooper brings that to life expertly.

Chris Kyle is often commended for being the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history who served four tours in Iraq as a Navy SEAL sniper and racked up 150 confirmed kills and at the same time saved a lot of marines and excelled at what he did.

but is that a good thing? Probably not.

The beauty of American Sniper is that it doesn't question that aspect of Kyle's life, instead it shows it to us the actions he performed in Iraq and asks us to draw our own conclusions on the matter and also makes it clear in this type of situation you have to make severally morally questionable choices. There is no choice.

Chris Kyle was a man who did what he thought was right thing and did his duty for his country. Another aspect of the situation is he has no choice but to follow the orders of his superiors.
But all of that took his tole on him. He's not a superhero, he's a human being, he doesn't like killing loads of Iraqis he did it because he knew he was doing the right thing, keeping the evils of war from both his military family and his own direct family.
Over time he eventually finds out that it's impossible to do either of these things, because regardless of his considerable skill as a sniper, he's simply unable to protect every single marine under his watch as well as having to live with the fact that in order to protect his own family, he has to destroy others.

He also knew that if he didn't follow his orders he would court marshalled or be branded a coward.
But doing these things deeply affected him, he missed his family and felt guilty, not just for his victims but for his fellow soldiers who lost their lives.
He became so precise and accurate as a sniper that it practically becomes his whole life.

Kyle's philosophy and values as well as the films themes are beautifully established early in film as it depicts his strict upbringing in a highly conservative Texas Household from his father's stern philosophy of protecting the innocent to attending sermons about Gods plan as well as learning to persevere above all else.
Kyle carries that value system into adulthood and which hit their boiling point when he witnesses attacks on American embassies which he takes as indirects attack on his family which is ultimately what pushes him into enlisting in the Navy SEALs which are portrayed very much as a tight nit group of resilient people.

The films central theme about soldiers and their families and what they had to go through. This is most clearly visible in the impact Chris Kyle’s tours have on his family at home and his dedication to them, his brothers in arms or even his country which he is fighting for.
As Chris excels in his role as a sniper, he keeps the evils of war from his brothers and as far away from his own direct family as humanly possible. However, it slowly dawns on him that its impossible to do either of these things as he finds that he’s unable to protect every single marine under his watch regardless of his skill as a sniper. He also finds out the hard way that in order to protect his family he has to destroy another as innocences do they caught in the crossfire which is something he has to live with.  

Clint Eastwood's direction is sublime, the cinematography is excellent and captures the gritty and desolate environment of Iraq. The action scenes are intense, well shot and expertly staged, the sound effects are deafening and really make you feel like you are there in the Battle zone, the production design is haunting and looks authentic and captures the grim environment of Iraq, the costume design are appropriately grimy and capture the harsh dress code of war. The effects are spectacular and well done, the make up is rich and brilliantly detailed and the ending was wonderfully moving.

The acting is superb, Bradley Cooper steals the show here, while there are handful of supporting characters including Kyle's wife, Taya Kyle (Sienna Miller), Cooper for the most part carries this film on his shoulders and he does that with little to no mishap, he beautifully captures the humanity, the courage, the vulnerability, the bravery, the inner torment and the fatherly sides of Kyle, making him a very relatable and sympathetic on-screen character. He’s also someone who despite having many psychological and physical obstacles thrown his way stays faithful to his beliefs and doesn’t quit on his brothers in arms and his family.
Even though he did manage to protect countless troops from physical harm, he finds that he can’t shield them from mental harm and toll the war takes on them.   

Sienna Miller also holds her own pretty well as Taya Kyle, Chris' wife, she's actually a pretty feisty person, she definitely knows what she wants and she doesn't suffer fools so she's a strong female character on her own merits, she's a sharp object. She was always understanding and sympathetic towards Chris's decision to put his duty above her and the family and she wanted him to be himself but thats a hard thing to navigate when there are children involved and being left behind.
Chris and Taya's shared love for family makes their initial relationship grow

Luke Grimes, Kyle Gallner, Jake McDorman,  round out the films small cast with thankless performances playing Kyle’s fellow soldiers.

American Sniper is emotionally powerful War film and Clint Eastwood's best film in years, 5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.