American Sniper
Go! Like bullets from a rifle, it strikes at the heart and the head.
War sucks. No one wins.
Clint Eastwood used to be a cowboy; now he is anything but - firmly established as one of the great American storytellers. We punks should definitely be feeling lucky that he's still got enough ammo in his chamber to keep firing out movies in this, his 85th year. With American Sniper he gives us the latest of his arsenal. Of course it's also Oscar season, so Eastwood is getting is #nom on, big time. This film brings with it his fifth Best Picture nomination as a director.
The title of the movie is not an abstract one - it is indeed about a Sniper who is American - the true story of Texan Chris Kyle (played by a bulky, bearded Bradley Cooper), the Navy SEAL with the most confirmed kills in US military history. During his four tours of Iraq, Kyle killed something like 160 people...which is an awful lot of people. While working, he had a wife (played by Sienna Miller) and, a couple of kids at home; but an unyielding sense of duty kept launching him back into the war zone quagmire of the middle-east. Other than that, everything is as you would expect - there are guns; comrades in arms; tears, tension; lives lost and others not - will he make it home, or will it be one tour too many?
The title of the movie is not an abstract one - it is indeed about a Sniper who is American - the true story of Texan Chris Kyle (played by a bulky, bearded Bradley Cooper), the Navy SEAL with the most confirmed kills in US military history. During his four tours of Iraq, Kyle killed something like 160 people...which is an awful lot of people. While working, he had a wife (played by Sienna Miller) and, a couple of kids at home; but an unyielding sense of duty kept launching him back into the war zone quagmire of the middle-east. Other than that, everything is as you would expect - there are guns; comrades in arms; tears, tension; lives lost and others not - will he make it home, or will it be one tour too many?
Now you may be thinking that this surely leads to a pretty predictable, tub-thumping, virile, patrio-tastic, star and stripe face-painted HOOH-RAH in celebration of the U-S-A! U-S-A! and its military action on foreign lands, as so many other American war films end up being (such as the not big and not clever Lone Survivor). To some degree, if that's what you want to take from the film, you can. There are plenty of scenes in which insurgents / terrorists / enemy soldiers / people (whatever your view) are killed, in graphic circumstances. This is jazzed up with sharp tension, wrapped around the screen like electric razor-wire; well-crafted, realistic action scenes; camaraderie between comrades and cutting one-line, quippy banter. There is even the classic sniper vs sniper battle that seems to characterise all sniper films. So if that's all you're into, fine - you're made. No judgement here, just remember to mention it to your therapist. But if you're looking for something more, remember that this film is closely based on a true story and has far more depth if you look beyond the mere bangs and blood.
This is because where others may have lacked the steady hands and measured heart to handle the heavy yet fragile subject matter, Eastwood instead gives us one of the (potentially) great modern war films. His typically clean film-making style: neutral, patient, gently stylish; is urged along by the emotion driving the protagonists and the naturally charged subject matter. From the first scene that leads us to Kyle's first intensely tragic kills, Eastwood and the excellent Cooper and Miller all persistently guide us to the harrowing impact of Kyle's experience, rather than cheering on his deadly talent. As a sniper, seeing victims close-up before ending their life, every one of his kills is intensely personal. American Sniper reminds us just how personal all aspects of war are, regardless of the bigger aims. For those that know the full story of Chris Kyle, the conclusion of the film might not come as a surprise, but regardless, I would defy anyone not to leave the cinema with a truly heavy heart and the reinforced view that war - huh - yeah, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin', say it again, y'all.
So go and see a film that is not how so many would lazily brand it, as a piece of pro-war propaganda; but is instead a rare, non-judgemental war film that lets you make your own mind up about an ominously tragic true story and an terrible on-going situation.
So go and see a film that is not how so many would lazily brand it, as a piece of pro-war propaganda; but is instead a rare, non-judgemental war film that lets you make your own mind up about an ominously tragic true story and an terrible on-going situation.
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