American Sniper: The Legend Lives

Hello everybody! For this week’s new movie show we have the Chris Kyle biopic American Sniper.

AMERICAN SNIPER

DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood

STARRING: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Luke Grimes, Kyle Gallner, Sam Jaeger, Jake McDorman, Cory Hardrict

GENRE: War

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United States

Chris Kyle was nothing more than a Texan man who wanted to become a cowboy, but in his thirties he found out that maybe his life needed something different, something where he could express his real talent, something that could help America in its fight against terrorism. So he joined the SEALs in order to become a sniper. After marrying, Kyle and the other members of the team are called for their first tour of Iraq. Kyle’s struggle isn’t with his missions, but about his relationship with the reality of the war and, once returned at home, how he manages to handle it with his urban life, his wife and kids.

American Sniper was definitely more interesting than I thought it was going to be. I have to applaud Clint Eastwood’s direction, as the film had a perfect balance between covering Kyle’s tours in Iraq and suffering from PTSD while trying to adjust back to life at home. The main cast performances were great, except Bradley Cooper sounded weird with a Texan accent. The role was so out of character for him but I believed he nailed it.

American Sniper has a lot going for it, but it does have some minor drawbacks. I understand that it is a biopic and is supposed to focus on Chris Kyle, but I would have liked to see his brother more than what was offered. He only appears twice in the film, before Kyle joins the Navy and leaving Iraq to return home. It does give us an alternate look at how war was affecting other characters, but there could have been so much more. Also, the film’s pacing is very slow. I was interested so I watched the film in its entirety but it felt like it dragged on for four hours when it is a little over two hours long.

PROS:

•  Direction.
• Balance between home and military.
• PTSD analysis.
• Main cast performance.

CONS:

•  Lack of Kyle’s family.
• Alternate look on war.
• Pacing

SCORE: 8.2 / 10

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