American Sniper Review

Rating: 9/10 (16 January 2015)

My Thoughts:
You would think that we would get tired of these war movies depicting life over in Iraq and Afghanistan but when they come together in a movie this good it is easy to see why we keep coming back for more. This is easily one of Clint Eastwood's best directed movie. And then we come to Bradley Cooper, he has always been a face in Hollywood but I think this movie shows that he has some serious acting chops. I know he was a Hollywood A lister before but this movie shows that he is more than just a pretty face to look at when he is on screen. I would like to see him in more of these drama type roles. Even though I did like him as Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy.
We follow Chris Kyle's life starting with a brief glimpse of how he grew up and what he did before joining the Navy and the SEALs. We then follow Chris through Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs (BUDs) training. To him finding and marrying Taya (Sienna Miller). But what this movie really focuses on is the time Chris Kyle spends between four tours of duty in Iraq to the time spent between them at home. Chris seems to thrive while over in Iraq, he is in his element and knows what needs to get done. Chris is in a war between himself and an Iraqi Sniper that wants the glory of taking down the Legend that Chris Kyle has become over there. When at home though he is faced with a family he barely knows and trying to get reacquainted with them, too dealing with the mundane day to day life.
I am sure there is some things that the movie doesn't portray correctly be it due to the missions still being classified or to wanting to protect some of those people that are still active and out there protecting us. But the movie does capture what it is to be a man going off to fight a war in another country and then trying to come home and dealing with not only with your day to day life but also trying to put behind the war. Luckily in this day and age Veterans do have avenues to get help and work through it. And Chris once he got his feet under him was an advocate of trying to help those returning Veterans get a hold on reality and get back to living that normal life they had before going of to war.
This movie is an emotional roller-coaster and is going to take you on a journey. So be prepaid to have your heart strings pulled and maybe a Kleenex or two with you when you see this. Especially if you are like me and did not know Chris Kyle's story before seeing this movie.
My Recommendation:
A Must See.