Cooper's best performance.

Rating: 8/10 (19 January 2015)

It's solid.
Bradley Cooper's performance is what makes this film work. In his performance here, you don't see him as an actor, but rather as a person. He embodies US Navy Seal Sniper Chris Kyle(rest in peace). His work is very solid, but being completely honest, I would have agreed with the Academy's choice of nominating his performance if Selma hadn't been released in the same year.
This film tends to ask the right questions including, what is the price for military glory? What is it like to be a modern day soldier? Can you come back as yourself after war? All these questions are explored. Cooper is able to show this as he struggles to deal with everything he does. Yet, he always goes back, because for two reasons, it's what he knows, and because nobody else will. The film goes to great lengths to show his compassion for his comrades. He wants to go on the ground and give the marines some pointers and he even argues to his superiors about going down than laying back.
This is Eastwood's solid effort, I didn't particularly enjoy his last couple of films, but he won me over with this one. To date his best work is Letters From Iwo Jima, but American Sniper is a solid entry into his glorious career. Eastwood brilliantly captures all the tense and suspenseful moments quite well. There are lots of nail biting scenes in the film, even in the trailers where Kyle is about to snipe the mother and son with the grenade was one of the most intense trailers I've ever seen, and seeing it all play out was even more gripping.
Aside from Bradley Cooper, who's mark is made in the entire film, Sienna Miller is quite effective as his wife Taya Kyle even though it's somewhat of a cliché role. She shares lots of intimate moments with Bradley Cooper. The supporting cast surrounding Bradley Cooper are excellent, it's not overdone but there's enough to actually care about his comrades and they all bounce off each other extremely well, especially Jake McDorman as Biggles and Luke Grimes as Marc.
The only criticism I have in this film is that it kind of glosses over some of the more problematic elements of him as a character. There are scenes shows on his PTSD problems and adjusting to a normal life, but it's sporadically sprinkled in the film rather than really diving into it. Though it was great to watch and has some good moments, I thought a lot more could have been explored. Also as I read more into Chris Kyle, the film somewhat changes his true self and its almost as if they're trying to make him more heroic, or more one-noted. I understand it's a film and some changes had to be made to appeal to some people and the studio head, but it's the only nitpick I have within the film.
Nevertheless it's a solid film by Clint Eastwood. There's a lot more action than you'd expect in a Clint Eastwood film and they are very well shot. Being asked to kill 160 people(officially confirmed) in the name of your country is a huge undertaking and shows the internal conflict that comes along with it. Cooper is brilliant and it's a poignant reminder that we need to do more than say "Thank you," to all the troops and veterans in the US.
8.5/10