Simplistic and fraught with contradiction

Rating: 3/10 (8 January 2015)

I'm not going to spend too much time on this film as in my opinion there is not a lot worth saying. This is war movie that may appeal to a specific US demographic but, based on my experience, I question whether if it will appeal to those outside the US.
American Snipers simplistic jingoistic overtones combined with its shallow, sanctimonious religiosity and lack of respect for humanity in general is a caustic thread that runs the length or this dreary, depressing and at times genuinely callous film. There is also a minor but rather nasty dash of throw away misogyny offered up early on to round things out.
What really stood out for me however was the glaring contradictions found throughout this flick. A US citizen defending their country is a patriot, a person from the Middle East defending their lands is a terrorist. Killing over 150 people including children is treated as somehow heroic rather than an awful consequence of war. Why? Why too is the US in the Middle East to start with and why is this a good thing? Aside from vague references to the attacks on the US on September 11th (which had virtually nothing to do with Iraq) this is not explained or justified. Why too is the key characters emotional issues that eventually result from the work he does never really examined or reconciled?
In my estimation its high time Mr Eastwood put away his directors chair. Three out of ten from me and only because the acting is not totally dreadful, even if the film is.