There are one dimensional stories and there's American Sniper

Rating: 4/10 (2 February 2015)

It is difficult to suspend expectations when you are facing a story inspired by the memoires. Even though a movie is a work of cinematographic art (and Eastwood excels at that, whether as an actor or as director), it is difficult to bypass a story that lacks depth and labels participants narrower than a Steven Seagal movie.
The story is simple, American soldier follows orders, goes to Iraq, kills people he labels as evil and returns home traumatized that he couldn't kill more (and save his mates).
Cooper is a good actor and he may be compelling in this part save for the fact that it's truly hard to empathize with his suffering. He travels oceans and continents to the far side of the world to impart death and destruction motivated by a natural need to overcome terrorism (the long defunct thesis that somehow Iraq had something to do with terrorism or WMDs, something dismissed even by the Congress) and everyone found there is 'evil' and somehow deserving of death.
It's difficult to find something to like in the portrayal of an invader and impossible not to root for those invaded and labeling the fight against the invader as anything but a fight for freedom (I would say war and describe the conflict as the White House does in press, save for the fact that nobody seems to abide by the Geneva convention).
I truly wish I could move beyond the details of the reality that brewed this story, but as the story itself wants to appear grounded in reality while ignoring the higher reasons for the events, I cannot. Nobody lingers over justification, we are good, they are evil and must be killed. Soldiers need to invade foreign countries while staying safe at the same time (pardon me, but isn't a soldier's job to risk their life? why lament over it instead of honoring the task when done in good faith?).
Overall the movie is an insult to the victims of the US invasion of Iraq and this general feeling manages to tarnish any artistic value.