Best to give cinematic credit when due

Rating: 8/10 (30 January 2015)

This is a well crafted movie with strong performances by its leads, Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller. But after having read some of the comments on it I have to wonder how accurate it is in terms of depicting Navy SEAL Chris Kyle himself. The trouble is if it isn't accurate it starts smelling like propaganda and a pointless whitewash. For example, as in Stalingrad, there is a kind of competition and duel between Kyle and an enemy sniper but supposedly that's not what really happened.
Cooper is so deeply invested in the role you think it must be because he's honoring someone he admires. You never get the feel he was just doing it to get an award. I've heard the sniper was not that troubled about killing women and children who posed a threat to the troops he was watching over so I'm left wondering. I have to admit in the end I find the cold killer version of Chris Kyle more plausible than the driven but understanding guy shown in the movie. But I'll have to read much more than I have to feel certain about it.
Still it's a very well made film. I particularly liked how beautifully put together the battle scenes were. The sound of the rounds hitting all around was just right, I think. I've heard nothing is as chaotic and ugly as real war so it's a gift to have it sorted out for you by an intelligent director with a camera. You do get the feeling a lot of surviving is pure luck.
As between 'Fury' and 'American Sniper' both make you feel the tension of having to perform in a deadly situation though I'd give a small edge to 'Fury' though that's more directly a heroic tale. It's a little telling that director Eastwood found more paydirt in the battle scenes than in the sniper scenes. But being a sniper must not be that satisfying a job, I think, no matter how many lives you might save. And Miller and Cooper do a good job of depicting the strains on their marriage. I'm guessing it was those scenes that kept my wife happy as she usually hates war movies.