Tragic Picture of a lost human being

Rating: 3/10 (9 January 2015)

In the film, good acting and a scrip grant a nobility and a personality to the man who is the subject of this misguided film...qualities he did not possess in real life. I read his book, or tried to. In its pages I found an arrogant and empty person. In the end he disappeared the way he lived. The director in this case does not himself have enough depth of character to understand that this seems to be a picture of a loser. I was a soldier in Vietnam. I was a medic, not a sniper. I never met a sniper. I can only hope they are not like this guy. So many films about America's present wars show us a troubling picture of soldiers disconnected from their lives, not very interested really in their country and completely unable to understand the "others" they face in these conflicts. Some people view this empty man as some sort of hero, apparently. I do not. I could not finish his book. I just could not relate to this empty person. It is difficult to believe that the story teller in this case is trying to help us understand a lost generation. Or help us understand why so many American men come home from these wars and kill themselves. It does not seem to care at all about these deeper issues. After trying to read his book, and trying to watch this film, I see nothing to commend this man and his wasted life. If somewhere in the acting and in the script and in the direction, somebody was crying for help that never arrived...well, maybe that is a point worth rescuing. But I suspect no one really cares because he was such a precise and talented killer.