Good war movie

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2015)

Chris Kyle, Navy Seal, is a first rate sniper and tactician, but finds it difficult to return to real life after four tours of duty in the middle east.
Bradley Cooper plays Kyle in Clint Eastwood's biographical movie of Kyle's life, mixing action sequences in Iraq with rather more soapy stuff back in the States. That's not to downplay the domestic element: Sienna Miller is excellent as Kyle's wife, developing from bachelorette to mother and distressed wife, concerned at the husband whose personality hasn't fully returned from Iraq. And Kyle's recognition of his problem and eventual preparedness to address it are well shown, too, and contain some of the strongest elements of Cooper's performance.
But the combat sequences are probably what will live in the memory. They are extremely well staged, exciting, visceral, suspenseful, and full of jeopardy.
This is a very good film with an excellent central performance from Cooper who is maturing well as an actor. Eastwood's direction is good, especially in the combat sequences, albeit possibly a shade too leisurely overall.