hief Petty Officer Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) was a Navy Seal who achieved the most confirmed kills by a sniper in American military history during four tours in Iraq.
After returning home to his wife Taya (Sienna Miller) and two children, Kyle seeks help to deal with his post-traumatic stress.
We say, “Witness Clint Eastwood’s tightrope act.”
TAYLOR: This film is almost great, but feels a little corporate, cookie-cutter and manipulative.
For instance, after the ending montage of patriotic photos of the true story of Chris Kyle, to a stirring trumpet revelry, there is a moment of silence. American Sniper has all the right pieces in place to satisfy those demanding respect or reverence to such a tale. It is less politically ambivalent that Zero Dark Thirty, but more so than other soldier films we’ve reviewed.
HOWE: I’m going to have to disagree with you on this one. I found American Sniper a little one-sided, but then again this is Hollywood we are talking about and they are giving what the American public wants, a hero. They did it in last year’s Lone Survivor and last month in Unbroken. American Sniper just seems like a recruiting ad, like the Uncle Sam poster back in its day. It doesn’t even come close to Zero Dark Thirty.
TAYLOR: American Sniper is built from the American experience. This is a movie about being American, before being a sniper. While there are a high number of flags flapping, director Clint Eastwood seems to have employed a light touch.
American Sniper is a little heavy handed at times, but it is the characters that provide most of the clichéd bravado. Such is it that, although I hated seeing and hearing what was happening much of the time, I couldn’t help applaud the fact that I was supposed to.
As the film neared its conclusion it became less of a moral question and more of a gunfight, which makes it feel generic and cause for recruitment. However, it’s only Kyle’s motivations that are patriotic. His actions and the results of them are anything but glamourized, which appeals to the man in me. The critic in me wishes the film was 20 minutes shorter and less predictable.
HOWE: I found the script weak. Even though this is based on a true story, there have been some liberties taken. The Syrian born sniper, for example, added to beef up the limp story. If you want that storyline just watch Enemy at the Gate. It has far better acting and storyline. Lots of people are raving about Cooper’s performance. I thought it was pretty poor. He has two expressions throughout the film, either looking at you blankly or staring off into space blankly. This is even before he has PTSD. There is only one scene to demonstrate Kyle’s problems and it was a whole 20 seconds long, when he wants to beat on a dog. Maybe they didn’t want to touch on that subject for some reason.
TAYLOR: No, I think you just got bored and stopped paying attention, which is the film’s fault, not yours.
– Taylor gives American Sniper 3.5 sandstorm gunfights out of 5.
– Howe gives it 1.5 bull rides out of 5.
