Top Film.

Rating: 8/10 (9 January 2015)

I watched this film with high expectations just because i knew the story would have me engaged after seeing the trailer. And i can say that the film did meet those expectations.
Firstly Bradley Cooper pulls out the best performance of his career. I haven't been a Cooper fan in the past but after this film I will take him more seriously. You can see the sheer effort he puts into his characterization as a way of honoring Chris Kyle's patriotic life.
Eastwood manages to capture the alienation that war can cause in a man very well. The parallels of his time in Iraq and at home are extremely effective in conveying Chris's struggle in handling war. We see he is more alive whilst with his 'brothers' in a war zone than with his wife. The battle scenes are extremely realistic and suspenseful, the sound mixing does justice there. The scene locations are very entrancing and realistic. There was an element of what i call 'Hollywoodness' in setting up the narrative at the beginning but that didn't diminish what was very satisfactory watch. I did feel there was something missing from the narrative but Eastwood was being authentic in the sense that he told a truthful story in tribute to a soldier.
In short this film is an insight into the mind of a gifted hunter, who sacrificed his normality for a sense of fulfillment and duty. Eastwood doesn't go down the metaphoric route like 'Apocalypse Now' but rather explores war through the psychoanalysis of one of history's most potent killers. Drama/Suspense/Action.