Twin themes of biography and tragedy fight for your attention

Rating: 7/10 (14 January 2015)

A technically perfect film but c'mon you knew that even before the title rolled. Eastwood, formerly the #1 film star in the world (which makes me how old?) knows more about framing a shot than most other directors have forgotten.
It is above all else a biography, and those are not common in Tinseltown anymore. The rules for bios are different. There was George C Scott as Patton and Burt Lancaster as Jim Thorpe ... etc.
These were not dramas. These were not entertainment. They were ..... shadows of what was.
One of the problems with bios is that they tend to be tied to the era of the of the main character and that too limits commercial long term appeal.
Which is why even now the Biography channel has made more bios than Hollywood ever did ... or ever will.
And it is also a tragedy. On many levels. On the obvious level (the ending, no spoilers). And on the metaphysical level. One has to wonder how kind history will be to the Iraq incursion 50 years from now? A lot of things change over time. We work the Germans and Japanese today without any problem. WW2 films do not have the popularity they used to. So where will American Sniper be in 50 years? Just asking.
The acting is understated because that is what you do in a bio. Miller is stunning even without her usual blonde hair.
Almost a guilty pleasure in its own way. Just like Kyle, who kept going back in-country without knowing why, this film will haunt you for days after you watch it.
And you won't quite know why either.