Emotionally complex and also filled with compelling action

Rating: 8/10 (15 March 2015)

I'm just going to start off with saying that "American Sniper" is not going to be the movie I'm cheering for when it comes to the 87th Academy awards, but that in no way means that this is a bad movie. When it comes to the acting, it's truly excellent. When it comes to the drama, it's also very good. The action is compelling and the story very interesting. If the title worries you (as it did for my very Canadian butt) don't worry about it because this is in no way a jingoistic pro-war, kill all Arabs movie. Actually I found the film to be profoundly intelligent in the way it handles the wartime events portrayed in the life of the main character.
Based on the book "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History" by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice, Bradley Cooper stars as Chris Kyle, the titular "American Sniper" with Sienna Miller playing his wife Taya Renae Kyle. The plot, it's mostly self explanatory, but concerns for the most part the reason why Chris Kyle decides to go into the U.S. war, how he deals with his job, which is nothing but killing people, and how it affects his life back at home.
Out of this Clint Eastwood effort, the thing that stands out the most for me at least, is the way that it has several elements that remind me of a western as much as a war film. You don't become the most lethal sniper in the U.S. Military without getting a lot of attention. In the way that the people in the story responded to the presence of Kyle (I'm talking about the character in the movie now) it reminded me of so many sharpshooting lone gunslingers I've seen in films set before the west was won. The man becomes notable because of his own skills, sure, but it's the way the people around him perpetuate the accomplishments that turns him into a legend. There's a mix of pride in being so highly regarded, but also an enormous amount of pressure. Thanks to Bradley Cooper's performance, I felt like I could truly feel the weight being dumped on the man's shoulders as he pulled the trigger again and again. If a regular guy misses a shot, it's not a big deal, but can you imagine if the guy you've heard hushed whispers about missed, how disappointed you would be to hear that? You'd cover it up and perpetuate the myth, and then it would become a self-fulfilling truth that the guy is the deadliest sniper ever. Additionally, if I may quote "Predator" for a second, "If it bleeds, we can kill it". I would think that becoming such a great sharpshooter might go to your head and that you would think yourself invincible, at least a little bit. If you miss though, not only would you recognize yourself as a regular guy, but the people that you've been intimidating with your legend, they would recognize that you're just human and that you can be quite easily (and in a most demoralizing way) be taken out.
These ideas fascinated me. How much pressure can a normal man that's being asked to perform like a god take, particularly when there are any number of people gunning for him to fail, and a lot looking to take him down to raise themselves to that Olympian status? The other element of the movie that I really liked plays hand-in-hand with this wester/legendary gunman idea. It's the portions of the film where the story is not set on foreign soil or on the battlefield, but at home where Chris has to try and readjust to normal life. I was surprised to see that as much as this film shows in great detail what happens on the battlefield, it also takes the time to show the consequences of this in normal life. Chris is not OK when he returns home because no human being should be asked to take that many human lives. The film deals heavily with post-traumatic stress and how pulling a gunshot does not end when you pull the trigger. His job isn't like a normal soldier's job where they are shooting people right in front of them, people that pose an immediate threat. For the most part he's very far from where the action actually is and he's picking people off in a very matter-of-fact manner. That has a heavy emotional toll on a person and I felt it.
What sold the movie for me was Bradley Cooper's performance. He is completely genuine in it and helps make all of the complex themes and emotions tangible. He also handles himself very well in the action sequences (I guess doing "The A-Team" was good for something) and I felt like there was some good, and complex chemistry going on between him and Sienna Miller. I can see why this film was nominated for so many academy awards, and I'd say when it comes to several of them (best actor and best adapted screenplay for example) the praise is fully justified. Best picture though? I don't know about that. It's not a big issue though. They can't all be "the best movie" and I think this is an intelligent movie that you will enjoy, I certainly did and not only because of the really intense action scenes. I was very impressed by how much emotion and how many complex themes were present. If you're worried that this is going to be some cheap piece of propaganda disguised as a film, that's not the case; "American Sniper" is a great movie. (Theatrical version on the big screen, February 8, 2015)