'American Sniper' A Review

American Sniper is a biographical war drama about the deadliest sniper in US history Chris Kyle, based on his autobiography. Out of the gate there is a flashback depicting Kyle's dad telling him and his brother there are three types of people in the world sheep, sheepdogs and wolves. Kyle takes this metaphor to heart and sees himself as a protector not only of his fellow man but his country. Kyle(Bradley Cooper) enlists in the Navy after seeing a terrorist attack on TV. He becomes a SEAL sniper and serves four tours in the middle east. He accumulates the highest death count in military history and is nicknamed "Legend". War scenes are juxtaposed with Kyle's returns home where he is distant and distracted much to the frustration and consternation of his wife Taya(Sienna Miller). After completing his term of service Kyle finds solace and purpose in helping other veterans.

Although not a great war movie it is a great action movie. The majority of the film is spent in the Iraq War and the different battles, patrols, and missions of Kyle's unit. The military elements seem very authentic however there is an overarching lack of weight and consequence, there is much more focus on the action and the kills then on how it effects the soldiers. Outside of the war Kyle's wife and post Iraq life seem almost like an after thought, a simple coda to the film, with little explored or delved into.

Eastwood the director has said American Sniper is an anti-war movie. Cooper has said the film's purpose is to shine light on the treatment of our veterans after they come home. If those were actual intentions when making the film as opposed to Oscar talking points they were utter failures.

Coopers portrayal of Kyle is unsettling, playing him as a confident and unflappable warrior, totally unperturbed by the numerous "savages"(at least one of them a child) he kills in Iraq, only concerned with those fellow soldiers he was unable to save. He acts as if he believes himself to be invincible, like a real life Captain American, and nothing in the film contradicts this attitude, it in fact plays into it. He is unwavering in his support of the US the "greatest country in the world" and never questions our involvement in Iraq. Auxiliary characters question the war's purpose but Kyle completely and immediately shoots down any dissension. And as far the VA and the treatment of veterans it is so under addressed it almost feels ignored.

I don't believe it was the intent of the filmmakers to make a pro-war or propaganda film but the attitude towards the conflict which is still ongoing is so passive and removed it as if Eastwood and Cooper view it as if it's fiction, totally unaware of the possible implications of their hero worshiping shoot-em-up.

Disturbing not in its deliberate content but in its unintentional subtext and interpretations.

Don't See It.