American Sniper ***
Could this be twice-nominated Bradley Cooper’s time at the Oscars? It’s highly unlikely given the competing talent, but what you can admire is the actor’s full immersion in the part of American Sniper Chris Kyle – and bulking up for it. This is perhaps the first method acting we’ve seen from Cooper, and it’s very exciting.
This biopic follows the situations of Kyle, a Texan rodeo-rider with a ‘win win’ attitude and excellent rifle skills from a young age who becomes a Navy SEAL sniper in Iraq, credited with 160 kills while on numerous tours of duty.
While director Clint Eastwood’s film gives a tense portrayal of a man on the job and offers some very well crafted war scenes, it falls down on storytelling in the sense of the real torment suffered by the man behind the rifle.
The build-up and back-story only just covers some of our questions. Although we can see Kyle struggling to retain a form of sanity in civilian life the more tours he goes on, there are no other inferences or dramatic fallout that give a sense of a mental deterioration. Perhaps there is more in the book as to an insight into Kyle’s emotions and stresses. All we – not in military circles – can do is fill in suggested blanks from media-based information we have about ex-veterans and their post-traumatic stress disorder.
For a biopic, it seems a little superficial in character depth and samey in style – as other Iraq or Afghanistan conflict films play out, making it widen open to the standard patriotic jibes. That said this is no warmongering affair – far from it. Eastwood is trying to give us a sense of loyalty to one’s country that goes sour. It questions how far that loyalty should go before it becomes all consuming and erroneous to personal wellbeing. It’s a fascinating topic from an American perspective, but just not quite achieved here.
In the war genre array of films out there, American Sniper is a skilled and engrossing character account, in terms of action and reaction. The trouble with the latter is more should have been made out of the mindset of Kyle to get a true, well-rounded biopic, plus we go from military hero to community/national treasure with the introduction of real-life footage, without a sense of that trajectory being better explained for a non-American audience. Sure, outrage goes so far at the conclusion, but Eastwood’s commitment to the war scenes does not seem to translate as strongly to the civilian ones. Thankfully, Sienna Miller is on hand as Kyle’s wife to give more effect. Still, it’s by far one of Cooper’s best performances to date.
3/5 stars
By @FilmGazer
by lgileskeddie
