American snafu

Rating: 6/10 (3 March 2015)

As far as I can remember, this is the fifth movie I've seen about the Iraq wars, after 'Three Kings', 'Route Irish', 'The Hurt Locker' and 'Green Zone'. From those five, 'American Sniper' is the most patriotic, the most war-justifying, the most pro-US. But it's also the most shallow and the most one-dimensional.
In a way, it has the same set-up as an other classic American war-movie: The Deer Hunter. Blue collar, well-meaning young guys sign up for the army because they think it's a good thing to do. In the war, they get damaged beyond repair. When they return home, it's impossible to pick up their old life.
So far for the similarities. Whereas The Deer Hunter delves deep into the psyche of the soldiers, and into the way the war changes their lives, American Sniper stays on the surface of what really happens. The film only offers simple statements and easy explanations. By linking 9/11 to Iraq, the film also deliberately makes an historical error.
As a Hollywood blockbuster, 'American Sniper' is entertaining and efficient. But as the historical document director Clint Eastwood probably had in mind, it's disappointing. Not because it's too patriotic, but because it underestimates its audience.