Cooper Deliverers One of His Best Performances to Date

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2015)

American Sniper tells the story of, Chris Kyle, former U.S. NAVY Seal, his life, his struggles during the war and the effects he has to deal with when he comes home. Bradly Cooper portrays the big bodied Kyle perfectly. Putting on over 40 pounds of muscle to play the role, and rocking a southern accent Cooper goes so far into the role you forget this is an actor and not the real man. Sienna Miller plays opposite Cooper as Kyles wife, Taya Kyle. Just as Cooper she embodies the character with great emotion and depth that she creates a real sense of chemistry and sadness to the character that you feel, and her struggle when her husband is away fighting to cope with the stress. Clint Eastwood provides great direction, especially combat sequences that feel real and visceral at times, and not over the top. There is times in the film where it feels somewhat been there done that from other films within the war genre. But still you are drawn into each moment, especially an opening sequence that will have your heart pounding and on the edge of your seat. The music is very tense and fitting to the scene and Eastwood does a good job of setting up the moment within scenes. Again Bradley Cooper is outstanding, especially playing a post war Chris Kyle, that doesn't speak much but just through simple facial expressions and looking into his eyes you feel a certain pain and sadness for Kyle. Similar to Sienna Miller, who as his wife tries so hard to bring Chris back to reality. American Sniper provides tense moments, with great music, and fantastic performances to create a great movie. Some moments may feel out of place, but with Coopers performance you are always drawn into the scene.