A well-made film that misses on doing justice to American veterans

Rating: 6/10 (25 February 2015)

Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" supposedly tells the true story of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, a soldier who has become a legend for killing over 160 Iraqis during his three tours of duty in Iraq. I am so ambivalent about this film because on one hand it's superbly made (with first-rate performances by Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller); on the other hand, it strikes me as insultingly oversimplified in its portrayal of socio-political conditions during the Iraq 'war' as well as barely touching on the serious psychological effects returning veterans have had to deal with. Moreover, its screenplay by Jason Hall used too much 'artistic license' -- for example, in real life Kyle never engaged a sniper-antagonist named "Mustafa" (an actual sniper killed somewhere else) -- and Hall deceitfully sanitizes Kyle (who bordered on being sociopathic in his callous and joking attitude to his many kills).
The worst thing about the film, however, is the patronizing and jingoistic last sequence of Kyle's memorial service, ending the film just like a commercial for the armed services. In the theater at which I saw it, many veterans (who have been deservedly proud of their service) began shouting and egging other audience members into loudly chanting over and over as the end credits rolled, "U.S.A.! U.S.A!" as if it were a sporting event (during which time I had to suppress my own very different thoughts at the Bush administration that put them there). Here, the film was reaching far beyond honoring Kyle but pushed it to hero-worship. I think veterans like Kyle deserve a less clichÃ©d, more nuanced portrait of the sacrifices they made, including an accurate detailing of the psychological damage veterans had to cope with after coming home. This part of his real story was virtually ignored, only hinted at (e.g., in the scene of the family dog). Eastwood should have been more concerned with ending on the tragic human cost over any patriotic sloganeering for people to cheer at.