American Sniper | Film Review

Visualizing any tale you wish to tell from the controversial Iraq war is a dual-edged sword. Stick to America’s take on the war, and you are insensitive to the people of Iraq who never asked to have foreign invaders assault their lands and are directly propagandizing a horrible mistake by the US. Spend too much time on the political leaders of both nations or ‘showing both sides’ and you become a Middle-East sympathizer, betraying your own country for your personal views on the conflict. In American Sniper, director Clint Eastwood wisely takes on a third option.

Largely missing from the lexicon of war films are the true stories revolving around our servicemen and why they do, what it is that they do. We get so wrapped up in our own personal issues with these wars, that we consistently forget these brave men and women are not the ones rallying the call-to-action…they are simply the ones serving it. Bradley Cooper’s sterling portrayal of Chris Kyle, a real-life SEAL sniper, is not so much glorifying this one man’s life as it is shining a light on ALL of these indentured souls out there risking life and limb for the rights of all of us to sit back and judge them from the comfort of our lounge chairs.

Clint Eastwood has a long history of supporting the military, and this film is no surprise. What is different, though, is the approach. Instead of taking Kyle’s story and crafting a typical Hollywood narrative with marked arcs and a glorified villain, American Sniper unfolds as brief moments in Kyle’s life. Military men rarely join for the glory Kyle ended up with, they join because they love this country and believe its freedoms are worth risking their lives for.

While that message typically gets lost in today’s Hollywood, Eastwood is having none of it. From the opening minutes of Sniper, Eastwood expertly paints the picture of Kyle as a man of loyalty and sacrifice. Even as he begins to build his family with Taya (Sienna Miller), Kyle sees his remaining stateside as a slight to the men on the ground back in Iraq. His four tours are a testament to his gutsy determination to do anything and everything in his power, using the skills he sees as God’s blessing, to bring his fellow soldiers home safely as well.

Not only do we witness Kyle’s perceived skills as America’s leading sniper, Eastwood also insists on our understanding of the toll this loyalty takes on Taya and Kyle’s family back home. Cooper does his finest acting to date in this film, and the strongest evidence of this occurs in a brief scene where Kyle finally realizes he needs to leave this war, yet cannot bring himself to head home. As he sits stoic in a random bar, a call from Taya prompts an outpouring of emotion that is simply devastating to watch. It is this heart-breaking conversation between Cooper and Miller that perfectly sums up the relationship between soldier and wife that rarely has been tapped into in American film.

Back in Iraq, Eastwood stages the sniper scenes with utmost precision and detail, but make no mistake: This is not an action film. Nor is it the grand propaganda film many are claiming it is. Eastwood and writer Jason Hall elected to remove all of the personal politics of the war and instead focus on the servicemen at the heart of every conflict. Is this a controversial choice? Only if you want it to be. It proved to be a winning decision to me, as not once throughout the film did I reflect upon my personal disdain for this particular war. I only reflected on the honor and respect Eastwood instilled in every frame of his best film in years.

Some may question Kyle’s legacy or the lack of legitimacy with some of the more debatable claims in his life. Some question the conflict itself. What cannot be questioned is the heroism in each and every man and woman that volunteers to do what Kyle and his compatriots have done for years. Bradley Cooper wears this honor on his sleeve through every shot of American Sniper and the beauty in his performance did more than enough to account for any discrepancies.

When the credits finally rolled, don’t be surprised if you aren’t saluting Eastwood and Cooper’s accomplishments yourself. For all of the complaints and issues we may have in regards to the Iraq war, American Sniper is a tribute to every man and woman to have served in our United States military. Give them the respect they deserve.

Starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller
Written by Jason Hall
Directed by Clint Eastwood

Aaron Peterson
The Hollywood Outsider