A VERY GOOD WATCH !!

Rating: 8/10 (27 October 2019)

While widespread trail of death, destruction and displacement are the visible effects of war, its real brutality is in the less visible, or often invisible, albeit pronounced effects on the psyche of those who survive. For, it is they who have to live with the scars of war, picking up the shards of their shattered life. As against those who die and are consumed by the war, the survivors face the pain of death on a daily basis as they are relentlessly haunted by their commissions and omissions which could have made a meaningful difference.
In American Sniper, veteran director Clint Eastwood narrates the real life story of Chris Kyle (an excellent Bradley Cooper), an ace marksman of the US Navy SEALs, who in his four gruelling missions during the Iraq war, is credited with more than 160 confirmed kills - the highest ever for a sniper. The film is largely set in the wreckage of Iraqi towns where the invading US marines had to engage in deadly urban combat with deadly insurgents from the al-Qaeda. The nature of urban warfare necessitates the services of snipers like Chris Kyle who is perched in a position, far and high from the battleground, keep an eagle eye to protect his mates from any incoming threats.
While this setting provides for several thrilling and action packed moments, especially when confronted by an Olympian sniper from the other side, the focus of the film remains firmly on the psychological aspects of the war on Chris - Why he came to be what he is and what is he going through..? Even as he is highly effective in his role as a sniper in the battlefield and is celebrated as "THE LEGEND", we find that the war quickly consumes his psyche entirely. He is unable to shift his focus away from it even during his well deserved breaks away from the war zone when he is safely ensconced in the warmth of his home with a loving wife, Taya (an effective Sienna Miller) and his newborn son. The battle continues to rage on in his mind and brings on a firestorm of guilt and helplessness that singes his very soul and almost upends his normal family life which was moving on an even keel. As the distant war continues to cling on to him like an unyielding parasite and can he quell the very real threat it poses to unleash a turbulence on him and his loving family...? Check out the movie to know the answers.
Despite being an one-sided narrative which does not care to focus on the other side, Eastwood's movie which has strong resonance with his earlier westerns raises difficult, yet pertinent questions about the whole idea of heroism and violence. And, in a beefed up Bradley Cooper, he has an actor who has embodied the character so deeply with all its vulnerabilities and nuances that makes this movie tick as an almost meditative exploration into the troubled psyche of a celebrated war hero.