Review ‘American Sniper’ From The Editor

A mere six months after releasing the Four Seasons drama “Jersey Boys,” Clint Eastwood has again lapped his younger directing colleagues with his second film of 2014 and his best movie in years. “American Sniper” is quintessentially Eastwood: a tautly made, confidently constructed examination of the themes that have long dominated his work.

Based on Chris Kyle’s autobiography of the same name, the film depicts Kyle’s entry into the armed forces and his four tours of Iraq, the many kills he confirmed, the horrors he witnessed, and the strains of post-traumatic stress when coming home to his family.

The outline sounds like a fairly generic warfare story arc, and for the most part the film goes through Kyle’s journey is a reasonably expected way, though that said, there are moments of unexpected brutality and awe. Clint Eastwood knows how to stage his warfare, all action sequences – be them tense or fully blown out – are executed brilliantly, and with them provide an insight into some of the most lethal of the 160 recorded kills that Kyle carried out. Bradley Cooper provides his usual strong magnetic work in the central role of a veteran who is committed to his country and prepared to die for it, and during the scenes at home he envelopes the persona of a psychologically pressured veteran out of his comfort zone with nuance and warmth.

Here is an archetypal American: a chew-spitting, beer-drinking Texas cowboy who enlists after the 1998 bombings of American embassies with resolute righteousness and noble patriotic duty. The once wayward Kyle finds his true calling in the Navy, and he heads to Iraq with a moral certainty that no amount of time served or kills will shake. He’s there to kill bad guys — “savages” he calls them at one point.

And kill he does. With 160 confirmed kills, Kyle is believed to be the most lethal sniper in U.S. history. The film starts with a remarkable scene of Kyle poised on an Iraq rooftop with a young boy holding a grenade in his scope. Eastwood and screenwriter Jason Hall flashback to Kyle’s upbringing, where his father taught him about “the gift of aggression” and the honour of defending others.

The film is a very solid piece of work, yet this is where the limitations of its own success shine clear. It’s attempting to be something more, something more personal, to add signature perspective on the Iraq war, and sadly this doesn’t feel thoroughly signature. The truth is that Eastwood is being too respectful to Kyle that he doesn’t seem to know how deep and disturbing to take Kyle’s PTSD, or indeed how much of the horrors of warfare to show the audience. Granted there are a few genuinely disturbing scenes – most notably the torture of an Iraqi family with use of a drill – yet the vast majority of its two hour fifteen minute run time, the film feels rather risk averse.

The film’s narrow perspective, centred on Kyle, is both the best and worst thing about it. “American Sniper” may be a much needed tribute to the sacrifice of American soldiers, but it’s lacking context. Few Iraqis here are seen as anything but the enemy.

When Eastwood delved into World War II in “Flags of Our Fathers,” his switch to the other side of the battlefield for “Letters From Iwo Jima” remains one of the most profound moral decisions in moviemaking. As fine as “American Sniper” is, it’s in need of a companion piece.

“American Sniper,” a Warner Bros. release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for “strong and disturbing war violence, and language throughout including some sexual references.” Running time: 124 minutes. Three stars out of four.