A war movie through the eyes of a sharpshooter

Rating: 6/10 (7 April 2016)

American Sniper is an American war film directed by Clint Eastwood and based on the self-biography about the sharpshooter Chris Kyle. Chris is American who dreams of becoming a cowboy but after the events of 11 September, he decides to join the Navy Seals. Throughout the film we follow him on his trips to Iraq to fight against the terrorists, and we also see him during his trips home to the USA in between.
American Sniper feels very American and patriotic. The film has more or less divided USA in two sections, while some praise the film for its portrayal of the American soldiers' heroic efforts, others feels it hails and embellish a devastating war. I feel there is some truth to both sides because on one hand it shows the brutality of the terrorists ways, even against their own population, but it also shows the American soldiers breaking in to homes of innocent people and using force and violence to get their way.
Clint Eastwood has done well with the direction because we truly experience the soldiers' fear of never knowing who to trust, whether it's grown man or a small child. The war scenes are well made and they don't feel shaky or edited too fast just to force a feeling of action. Bradley Cooper does a really good job, probably the best I've seen of him so far, but I still wish we could have gotten to know his character even more. He's obviously a patriotic American but what really motivates him besides the love for his country, is sometimes hard to understand.
Overall, I feel the film is OK and worth watching because it actually shows the brutality that was the war in Iraq, but I still can't help feeling that sometimes it seems Clint Eastwood had to bow down a little too much before Kyles' family. It appears they couldn't include some scenes just because his family didn't approve. As a story American Sniper doesn't feel unique or contributing in some new way for us, the audience, but I still feel you can watch the film and make up your own mind.
David Lindahl - www.filmografen.se