Great Movie Gets Weird

Rating: 6/10 (24 January 2015)

Bradley Cooper certainly demonstrates his tremendous talent in this well produced but somewhat lamely directed/scripted film. Unfortunately, some of Eastwood's choices left me feeling disappointed.
Reducing the Iraqis to cardboard cut-outs, reminiscent of a Rambo movie, might be Eastwood's attempt to reflect Kyle's attitude, arguably a product of his training or perhaps his way of dealing with having to slaughter people - but I don't think it makes for good storytelling. Totally unsympathetic villains simply don't work in an otherwise complex story.
I've read a number of critics' interpretations of the final sequence involving Kyle pointing a gun at his wife - both pro-gun and anti-gun as well as anti-war. I just found it terribly out of character for Kyle, a man who certainly loved guns - but certainly treated them with care and respect. Whatever point Eastwood is making, I found it jolting and dumb. It turned out to be the last straw for me - and a movie I would have mostly liked turned suddenly and starkly lame.