Jan 16, 2015
In the more than 20 years since Clint Eastwood won Best Picture and Best Director for “Unforgiven,” he has been making numerous films that have shared that Western’s theme of the tragic consequences of violence. He has openly acknowledged that movies like “Gran Torino” and “Million Dollar Baby” were responses to the cinematic havoc he reaped a fortune from in spaghetti Westerns and Dirty Harry-style movies from the ‘60s through the ‘80s.
That seismic shift in his cinematic philosophy has been a fascinating one to watch, but unfortunately Eastwood has had a few duds in the last few years as well – including last summer’s blasé attempt to bring the Tony-winning Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” to the screen. But with his powerful latest film, “American Sniper,” Eastwood at age 83 has created a masterpiece - with six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture - that combines his skill directing bang-up action with harrowing quiet moments that show the devastating psychological results.
Both ends of the spectrum – the macho and the mentally shaken - are expertly portrayed by Oscar-nominated Bradley Cooper, who brings the real-life Navy SEAL Chris Kyle to life in a performance that is nothing less than a reshaping of his entire career and persona. Kyle became the greatest sniper in US military history. Killing 160 enemy combatants and sympathizers during four tours of duty in Iraq, with another 95 that he shot without official confirmation, Kyle was constantly praised by his peers but tormented by demons from his first kill – a young boy who was sent by his mother to hurl an explosive at an American tank.
The movie expertly moves between flashbacks of Kyle’s childhood, where his father taught him how to hunt masterfully with guns, and his adulthood, where prior to 9/11, he was just a well-meaning yokel without much of a direction in life. But when the World Trade Centers and Pentagon were hit, Kyle was one of the many patriots nationwide who immediately enlisted to fight back for his country.
At the same time, he was beginning a romance with Taya (Sienna Miller, in a performance that should have been Oscar-nominated) that quickly led to marriage and kids. The heart of the movie comes from the interplay between his action-packed, tension-riddled battle scenes overseas and the more subtle battles he suffers with his guilty conscience – and the impact it has on him as a husband and father – when he’s stateside. In fact, the movie’s strongest scene is a jaw-dropping stunner, alternating in rapid-fire fashion between Kyle racing through Iraqi streets to escape an enemy ambush and Taya listening in on the other end of the line from back home, utterly horrified and wondering if she is about to hear her husband die before her ears.
Throughout, it is impossible for viewers to take their eyes off of Cooper, whose career exploded in 2009 with “The Hangover,” a raunchy R-rated comedy that could have typecast him as a dirty-minded yuppie. But Cooper is clearly a far deeper and more ambitious actor than the “Hangover” trilogy, and he seems to literally leave his own body behind and fully immerse himself as Kyle, packing on pounds of muscle and effecting his no-nonsense, America-do-or-die attitude as the hero he portrays.
“American Sniper” is undeniably on the side of America’s soldiers and in favor of the war it depicts in Iraq. It does feature a lot of profanity, especially the F word, but adults who have seen modern-made war movies likely know to expect that by now. There are also some jokes involving discussion of sex, but Eastwood and his team keeps such moments fairly limited, and “American Sniper’ has such a positive message about heroism, the military, America and the value of family that it would be a shame if the language dissuades people from seeing it.
The violence is frequent and the suspense involved in the many chases and battle scenes is intense, but Eastwood mostly uses tasteful restraint to limit the amount of blood found within. There is no nudity, and the only questionable scene of sexuality comes in a quick foreplay scene in which Taya strips down to lingerie and is led by Kyle into the bedroom in a scene depicting their life before marriage. Yet the movie’s strong emphasis on the value of family and married life helping Kyle keep his mind together is a much stronger focus in the film than anything illicit.
Overall, “American Sniper” is perfectly fine viewing for any adult who can handle the tension of war horrors, and is possibly even great viewing for older teens who could likely use a dose of reality about sacrifices our heroic troops go through in the name of keeping us all safe. Hollywood should certainly get all the encouragement possible, through financial success, to keep making positive films about our nation and military.