Poor film about a serious subject

Rating: 6/10 (1 January 2015)

American Sniper is suppose to be based on the Autobiography of former Navy Seal Chris Kyle and his life inside/outside the military. However, in reality the story is grossly inflated, making Chris Kyle out to be some amazing hero, where in reality he was just another cog in the wheel. Many key-pivotal aspects of the film were not part of his autobiography AND were based on his wife's memory, not actual facts written by the man himself. The screen writer Jason Hall, who has zero experience writing features, had only ONE phone call with Kyle before he sadly passed away. Many exciting and interesting aspects of Kyle's life weren't included in the screenplay.
Crucially, the audience is incapable of connecting to any of the characters or feeling sympathy for the actions that take place. As a consequence, the emotional component has been left out entirely. Even the combat missions are boring at best, never leaving the audiences in any suspense. Worst part is, the film includes a fictitious and horribly conceived antagonist, as device to keep the audience in the story. Without it, there would be no story, the film would simply be too disjointed, more like a documentary miniseries, rather then a narrative feature film. The fictitious character adds the "glue" necessary to keep us watching.
Outside of the poor screenplay, technically the film was a train wreck. Much of the film is suppose to take place in Iraq yet it was shot in Southern California. For wide shot's, they had a second unit in Morocco doing some 2nd unit work, but every single Iraq scene was the same buildings used over and over again. The military vehicles, weapons, clothing and combat actions were all wrong as well, silly mistakes for such a big movie. In the finale, fake vehicles, helicopters and an absolutely atrocious sand storm, destroy whatever realism remained. There were other huge mistakes like using a fake baby in one scene and mannequins for wide shots! Yes you heard me correct, mannequin's were used in the backgrounds of wide shots and YOU COULD TELL thanks to the digital cinematography and projection.
The film was actually boring to watch because it was visually uninspiring and flat. If the audience can't connect in any way to the characters, if the story is downright predictable and there isn't really any driving force, what keeps the audiences attention? Generally, stunning visuals and music can help a poor screenplay, but this film has neither a sore OR anything remotely redeeming about the cinematography. It was a truly "flat" film with no dynamics in the audio mix, cinematography, screenplay or acting.
Even though Bradley Cooper is an amazing guy and a great actor, his character wasn't strong enough to overcome the films glaring issues. It's just sad such a great "American Hero" had his story butchered by one of the best filmmakers we have.