American Sniper

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2015)

I heard about this film being released, and then I became more interested when I found out it was directed by Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Changeling), and definitely more so when the award nominations came in, so I was looking forward to it. Basically Chris Kyle (Oscar nominated Bradley Cooper) grew up in Texas with his father teaching him to hunt deer and shoot a rifle, and in adulthood becoming a rodeo cowboy, until in 1998 he watched the news about the U.S. embassy bombings, Kyle decides to enlist in the U.S. Navy, he is eventually accepted for SEAL training, and becomes a U.S. Navy SEAL sniper. Kyle meets Taya Renae (Sienna Miller) at a bar, they go out on many dates until they get married, but in 2001 they are shocked by the news coverage of the September 11 attacks, Kyle is sent to Iraq following, his first kills are a woman and boy attacking U.S. Marines with a grenade, he is upset by this experience, but earns the nickname "Legend" from his many kills. Kyle is assigned to hunt for al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a house-to-house search in evacuated areas goes ahead, interrogating a family the SEALs are offered the chance to catch second-in-command "The Butcher" (Mido Hamada), his favourite torture device is a drill, but the plan to get him goes wrong when the father and his son are captured by The Butcher and killed, while Kyle is pinned down by a sniper using a SVD (Dragunov sniper rifle), meanwhile insurgents put a bounty on Kyle. Kyle finishes his service and returns home to wife Taya, she gives birth to their son, he is distracted by the memories of his war experiences, which creates arguments, Taya is concerned for their future as a couple and wishes Kyle to focus on his home and family. Kyle leaves for his second tour of duty, promoted to Chief Petty Officer, and is soon involved in a shoot out where The Butcher is operating from the ground floor of a restaurant, he returns home again to a newborn daughter, but is still increasingly distant from his family, and on his third tour of duty he is badly injured by the Dragunov sniper and his unit is evacuated. Back at base the unit decide to continue the mission, another SEAL is killed in the gunfire, Kyle becomes racked with guilt and is compelled to serve a fourth tour, Taya does not understand his decision and tells him she needs him, but with his insistence she implies that they need some time apart. On tour four the expert Dragunov sniper is identified Mustafa (Sammy Sheik), Kyle is assigned to take him out, his team are placed inside enemy territory on a rooftop, Mustafa has been sniping U.S. Army combat engineers building a barricade, Kyle spots Mustafa at a risky long distance shot of 2100 yards and is successful in taking him out (the 8th longest sniper kill ever recorded), he exposes them to a large number of armed insurgents, in the midst of the firefight they are low on ammunition, and Kyle calls Taya and tells her he is ready to come home, he is almost left behind when a sandstorm covers his team for a chaotic escape. Kyle returns home, but is on edge and unable to adjust fully to civilian life, he tells a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist he is "haunted by all the guys he couldn't save", but he is encouraged to help wounded veterans in the VA hospital, many whom have suffered severe injuries, Kyle bonds with them and coaches them at a woodland shooting range, and he gradually begins to adjust to home life. On February 2nd 2013 fate takes a drastic turn when happy and playful Kyle takes an unstable veteran to a shooting range, the closing words explain that on this day Kyle was killed by the veteran he was trying to help, stock footage shows thousands of people standing in line at his funeral procession, and a Cowboys Stadium carry out a memorial service. Also starring Luke Grimes as Marc Lee, Jake McDorman as Ryan "Biggles" Job, Navid Negahban as Sheikh Al-Obodi, Keir O'Donnell as Jeff Kyle, Eric Close as DIA Agent Snead, Sam Jaeger as Navy Seal Lt. Martin, Max Charles as Colton Kyle, Kyle Gallner as Goat-Winston, Cory Hardrict as 'D' / Dandridge, Eric Ladin as 'Squirrel' / Case and Reynaldo Gallegos as Tony. Cooper gives a much more serious actor performance to what I have seen previously, critics were sceptical whether he captured the real man fully, he was a more hard-nosed killer than what he portrays, but he is definitely confident and thoughtful as the lethal sniper, and Miller is also impressive as his long suffering wife. Chris Kyle has been called the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history, notching up 160 confirmed kills during his four tours, and the film covers his early years as a child and rodeo rider, rigorous training, his marriage and family life, and of course his challenging time of warfare, the psychological effects are certainly intriguing, and there are plenty of exciting explosive gun fights to enthral the viewer, it is a must see action drama based on a true story. It won the Oscar for Best Sound Editing, and it was nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, Best Editing and Best Sound Mixing, and it was nominated the BAFTAs for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound. Very good!