American Sniper Review

Appreciate The Sniper Things In Life

Chris Kyle is a figure well known across America, a man whose life is brought to life in Clint Eastwoods newest feature American Sniper. Here was a fellow who, as a soldier, did so much in his life, which interestingly contrasts with this film that winds up doing very little of actual worth.

One thing that's certainly of worth in the film is Bradley Cooper, whose portrayal of Chris Kyle is quite compelling. Kyle goes into wartime situation ready to do anything, while retaining a humble and amiable personality. Cooper manages to balance that kind of demeanor with Kyles gradually changing personality back home, as the toll of war begins to become more and more evident as he grows more distant from his loved ones. 

A sequence depicting the apex of the wars effects on Kyle at his kids birthday party is easily the films best moment, namely because of how well Cooper makes this new side of Kyle feel natural and uncontrived. Unfortunately, the symptoms he's garnered from his wartime duties are gone from the film almost as quickly as they're introduced. But even that rushed aspect of Kyle is given more depth than the supporting members of the tale, as the rest of the cast sort of falls to the wayside. Many characters don't have any kind of notable presence, so when they're trotted out for some major emotional moment with Kyle, any sort of pathos the scene aims for becomes nonexistent. 

Perhaps the most tragically underdeveloped character is Kyle's wife, Taya. She's played by Sienna Miller, and it's pretty clear the movie has no idea what the hell to do with her. Her romance with Chris is terribly written, with Miller and Cooper having a shocking lack of chemistry that makes their abrupt marriage in the film feel even more out of place than it already is. There's very little personality to Taya, with the story treating her only as a source of nagging or a sex object (one of the movies most bizarre editing moments is where the movie just cuts to Chris Kyle sitting on a couch, with Taya slowly entering the room in her underwear). Only a scene with her on the phone with Chris in the midst of combat does anything notable occur with her wasted character.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the film that I found to be subpar was the directing, which isn't bad per se, but does feel underwhelming. You know that incredible sequence in the teaser where Kyle, in a sniper position, sees a mom hand her kid a deadly weapon? Yeah, it's totally undermined in the film because there's this score that just overwhelms the tension of the moment. Eastwood can't allow the feeling of dread consume Kyle, he has to have a whole bunch of other entities distract from this pivotal sequence. Another crucial moment towards the end is similarly ruined by enough over-the-top slow-motion to make Peter Jackson go "Chill out bro".

These sort of overdone spots pop up constantly in the feature, making Clint Eastwoods direction of the entire movie weirdly insecure, as if he's worried the audience won't respond to the film unless all subtlety is removed. But a great performance from Bradley Cooper and some scenes that are actually well executed prove how great American Sniper could have been. Alas, the movie as a whole that we're left with is a messy one that's distractedly lacking in several areas, especially in the ending (I'm not talking about the moving end credits), which is almost hilariously bad in how removed from nuanced it is.