Can You Truly Kill Evil?

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2014)

It's almost guaranteed Clint Eastwood will direct a very good movie? He has taken on diverse topics and come up with some pretty satisfying results. "The Changeling" gave us a study of motherhood and madness. "Jersey Boys" did a decent job transferring a musical from theater to film, and in the last fifteen years he has directed more than one cinema classic. His latest might just be another one to add to the list. "American Sniper" blends suspense, action, a fight against evil that might prove to be too much for the parties involved.
At the heart of the film is Chris Kyle, a fantastic Bradley Cooper who transforms into a military force who has decided to dedicate his military career to defending his country and helping his military brothers. He's loyal and focused, but this might be a problem since he becomes more and more affected by the world he's trying to destroy. As a result, he sees a deterioration of all that he treasures, as his mind can't handle the resulting emotional trauma of the experiences he has to go through.
His main problem is how much he gives of himself. He starts neglecting his family and children, and his obsession, might in some people's opinion, might not let him see clearly. The film doesn't take sides. It lets us observe what it is like being in the middle of this conflict. It's a world where you fight for your survival, where you don't know how death can reach and take you any moment. Chris is in the middle, but he shields his mind from the consequences to himself. He wavers when he's about to cause too much damage. He is able to recognize innocence and hesitate, but the lines blur, and he's unable to leave his work behind. Problems arise at home.
Miller plays his tough and supporting wife. She adores him, but she can see how much his assignments are destroying their relationship. There is genuine affection between them, and she tries to save their marriage, but she knows if he doesn't stop, she will become another victim, and we know she'll never allow it. Miller's performance is one of the best of the year because she portrays love, resilience, frustration, anger, dedication, and confusion very well. She develops and expands her character in a way that we never leave her behind, even in the middle of horrific battles. We can see Chris recognizes her presence in the faces of family members who are stuck in these nightmares, and he tries to block it out so much that he is unable to switch modes when he goes back. In one of the most painful scenes, he makes a call and surprises his wife by telling her he's already back in the States, and she can't understand why he's still not home.
Bradley is very good at showing the hurt that his mission causes. Yes, he's a patriot, but he also knows how much destruction his actions cause. He can say whatever he wants but he carries a big burden, and it is killing him inside. He refuses to visit Veterans' hospital because they remind him of how ugly his world is, and they can also show him what his own life might turn out to be if he survives. He plays Superman, but he also knows that he's not one.
Eastwood has made a much bigger film that we usually get from him. He dares go and show a much more complex picture of this world of war, hurt, and pain. He goes inside the heads of those in the middle, both Americans and the locals. Yes, everyone has two sides, and what becomes obvious is that there are actions and reactions and sometimes the explanations are not so simple. How did it start? Where will it end? Can it really be contained? Can evil eventually disappear? Is evil necessary so we can appreciate the goodness we still have in our hearts? It certainly rears its ugly head at the very end as we see the unexpected resolution. We feel an emptiness because this man was not just a soldier, but a tortured hero that tried hard to do his best, but he was after all another human who was equally vulnerable in many other ways.