It's not a biopic but a polite, deceitful eulogy of a far more complicated man.

Rating: 5/10 (21 January 2015)

Untruthfulness tarnishes the qualities of Clint Eastwood's American Sniper. It's made with fine technical expertise, expectant of the eighty-four year old filmmaker, and is strongly acted. Yet it's also an incomplete, dishonest portrait of a trained killer who lacked a conscience. Before his death in 2013, Chris Kyle served four tours of Iraq. He was the most decorated American sniper in history with 160 confirmed kills and nicknamed 'Legend'. Screenwriter Jason Hall, adapting Kyle's book, conversed with him until a day before his death. Steven Spielberg was to direct the film, hoping to show a rival sniper, but Eastwood replaced him. Violence is a persistent fascination for Eastwood, one he's explored his whole career from both sides of the camera. In his recent work, like Flags of Our Fathers and Gran Torino, Eastwood has shown sympathy for soldiers out of combat while also critical of the sociopolitical forces around them. American Sniper offers far less. It's not a psychological study but an action movie, accounting for its box office success despite a limited release. The film's dedication to combat is increasingly boring and paints Kyle's life as a sentimental, romanticised tragedy. The truth about this man is darker, more disturbing than this misleading psychodrama.
Full review at:
http://www.impulsegamer.com/American-sniper-film-review/