Sniper Hits Target (Almost)

Rating: 4/10 (15 October 2016)

American Sniper is a biopic based on the life and times of U.S. war hero Chris Kyle. It's Hurt Locker meets Silver Linings Playbook. Sniper was character-based with a lack of development.
Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, American Hustle) is Chris Kyle, a gifted marksman and good ol' boy from Texas. Inspired by love of country and war and hate terrorists, he does four tours in the Gulf War and racks up kills. Cooper is charismatic, but his character is one dimensional, like a human version of a loyal hunting dog. They even make him look stupid.
Sienna Miller (Foxcatcher, Factory Girl) is his nagging wife. She was annoying. You married a combat soldier! Don't break his chops for leaving you to go fight. That's what he does. In any case, Kyle doesn't come off as "husband of the year." That's the problem. It was yet another learning-to-be-a-better-father redemption arc.
First, Liar Liar taught us the importance of being a better father (hint: spend time with your kids and use the term "buddy."). Then Left Behind took it in dogmatic directions. Grownups 2 touched our hearts with a lesson in fatherhood, followed by Chef, Term Life, etc.
I recently caught up with the woman behind the learning-to-be-a-better-father movement, screenwriter Ashley Atkins. She said she could not explain the rising popularity of the theme/meme, but I couldn't help noticing a tattoo reading "Daddy's girl" on her lower back. When asked about her own father, she started crying.
The dramatic tension should have been from a mission, or sniper's adjustment to civilian life while coping with combat-related ptsd, how it was billed. Inmthree hours, they glossed over these elements and the conflict had to do with his strained marriage.
On another note, I didn't get why people were calling Jesse Ventura unpatriotic for suing Chris Kyle in real life. Just because the guy is a war hero, Ventura is supposed to let people think he beat him up?
The aforementioned notwithstanding, if you want a lesson in true patriotism, check out American Sniper. I read a review on here where the poster accused Chris Kyle of having no regard for the lives of innocent women and children. What we he supposed to do when they pointed a rocket launcher at American troops, throw them a birthday party?
On an even other note, what is with the constant "pulling your loved one into the shower or a pool with their clothes on" trope in romantic montages? Thanks a lot, Illuminati! Now us regular guys are going to be expected to bust that move in real life. Maybe some of us would rather bathe in peace, without soaking wet clothes.
Sniper is definitely a message movie. Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry; The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) directed and you can see his footprint on it. The storebought conservatism was a little too pat for me. Warning: this picture contains gratuitous use of the word "savage."
All in all, Chris Kyle was a bona fide war hero, but American Sniper was a one-trick pony.