By now, everybody pretty much knows who soldier Chris Kyle is. The US military's legendary sniper, who after 4 tours of duty, racked up the highest body count in the history of the armed forces, is now the subject of one of this seasons most lauded films. Mr. Kyle joined a SEALS training program at age 30, awfully late in life for a career of service, but proved the odds wrong, and was soon known simply as The Legend.
I'm no history major, or political commentator, I'm a movie loving nerd who appreciates a well told tale. So let's dispense with any leanings towards contemplating the rights and wrongs of our countries involvement in the battles Mr. Kyle fought, and speak about AMERICAN SNIPER in cinematic terms only.
Screenwriter Jason Dean Hall (an ex-actor best known for playing Devon MacLeish on the television show BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) and producer/director Clint Eastwood (also an ex-actor known for...well, a million things!) don't muck around in political morality, instead opting to simply show what a man like Mr. Kyle goes through when living behind the scope of a snipers' rifle for over a thousand days in the controversial and confusing Iraqi war. Emotionally, AMERICAN SNIPER gladly never asks the viewer to wave a flag, and never comes off as for or against our government, or the soldiers that serve/served in what I think everyone can agree is a tragic action. We are simply watching a man try to keep his friends and co-soldiers alive, and maintain a semblance of sanity for his family back home. The action oriented scenes never devolve into a "Murica...Fuck yeah!" type of armchair cartoon patriotism, and we are never asked to outright hate the Iraqi insurgents and soldiers they fight. It merely is an "is".
The performances are incredible, layered with depth, true emotional content, and an understanding of the fact that it is real people being portrayed. I'm going to be very surprised if lead Bradley Cooper doesn't win some major awards this season for his sobering portrayal of Kyle. One we should all be talking about just as much is Sienna Miller, who nearly steals the film as Taya Renae Kyle, the wife left at home, to rear their children alone, while fielding phone calls, sometimes literally mid-firefight, from her husband. With her work in AMERICAN SNIPER, and another of this year's most powerful films, FOXCATCHER, it's safe to say she's come a long way from work in movies like G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA. She gives us a lens to see the war through as far as the damage and scars it leaves on those whose loved ones job it is to be warriors, whether in the moral right or wrong. if anything AMERICAN SNIPER is an anti-war film, only once raising an eyebrow at our involvement, and it's on the side of questioning rather than following blindly.
Like I said, I'm no political expert, and I watched AMERICAN SNIPER strictly as an entertainment. I don't have a deep knowledge of Chris Kyle's life, nor of the intricacies of the corridors of power that make the policies that got us involved in the Iraq war. My job is to let you, the reader know, if I feel a film is worth your 10 bucks. In that regard, yes. AMERICAN SNIPER is a rock-solid piece of filmmaking, and one of Mr. Eastwood's finer moments in the directors chair. Recommended as an action oriented drama, and an enthralling biopic, which for me is more a love story than a war film.
Sadly, Kyle's life was ended on a shooting range by a soldier suffering from PTSD named Eddie Ray Routh (still awaiting trial), who Kyle was trying to help through readjusting to civilian life, in February of 2013.Z
Rating: 4 out of 5
~Sean Smithson
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