American Sniper: Character Study, NOT Intended to be a Political Film

Rating: 8/10 (17 February 2015)

This movie has generated a ton of discussion...some constructive, some destructive. My wife and I saw it and were blown away. I served on active duty AF for 23 + years and served another 21 + years as a civil servant. I never saw combat...I retired shortly after Desert Storm. I have many friends who were close to the front lines and heard varying stories about what they did and saw. Unless you've served the military in some capacity I supposed it'd be hard to understand what Chris Kyle did. Some have called him a coward...and that's just absurd. He personally saved hundreds, maybe thousands of military and civilian lives because of his expertise. This film crafted by Clint Eastwood and superbly acted by Bradley Cooper was a character study...never intended to be any kind of a political film. It tells the story of how Chris Kyle used his extraordinary talent to support his fellow military during 4 deployments to the war zones. It also shows how conflicted Kyle was...he wanted to be there for his comrades, but also be a good husband and father back home. I thought the film did a very credible job of capturing that struggle. Again, unless you've been deployed or worked with those who have, it would be more difficult to understand what Eastwood and Cooper tried to portray. The showing my wife and I went to was attended by mostly senior citizens. As the credits were rolling, there were very few dry eyes in the theater. Some stayed in their seats so shaken and emotional they needed some time to leave. That's what filmmakers strive to do...to move their audience. And on that score, Eastwood and Cooper certainly did.