"American Sniper" Review

Title: American Sniper

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Screenplay by: Jason Hall

Year: 2014


Of the all the "Best Picture" nominees this past awards season, American Sniper was definitely the most recognizable for the majority of audiences as it is the only one that did very well at the box office. The fact that it is based on actual events and has the tag line "The most lethal sniper in U.S. history" certainly helped with that. Does American Sniper hit its mark, or should you set your sights on another film?

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) joins the United States army out of a sense of patriotism (I believe that is the best way to put it) and the film chronicles his various tours during his time in service, as well as how it affected his home life.

From the sound of it, American Sniper seems to be a movie that is destined to be great. A biopic about the most lethal sniper in United States history that explores the inner psyche of this man and how the war changed his life and that is also directed by Clint Eastwood. The film seems like it would be some grand epic war picture, and yet it isn't. It's actually rather average, which is really disappointing.

Let's start out with some positives. Bradley Cooper is really great as Chris Kyle. He physically transformed himself for this role, and though he is still quite recognizable, his performance helps mask him throughout the majority of the film. Though this "character" looks like Bradley Cooper, Cooper's acting constantly has me believing that I am watching Chris Kyle. Sienna Miller is also very good in the movie. She does well as the mother and makes it very believable. However, the rest of the cast consists of relative unknowns and none of their performances are memorable. I honestly cannot recall a single character clearly aside from the two I mentioned. To be fair, that is partly because the movie's focus is on Chris Kyle and his family, and that is where the focus should be. But it still bothers me that all of the other characters were so incredibly bland.

Moving on to another positive, Clint Eastwood's direction is very good. The grittier moments definitely feel like Eastwood was at the helm and with his direction, he manages to create some very genuinely tense moments. Also, some of the scenes back at home feel very real and emotional. But I cannot deny that the film feels very lacking in many respects. The dilemma concerning the war  comes across very black and white. "These are the good guys and these are the bad guys." And while there is nothing wrong with a story like that, this format of storytelling is very out of place for this film. I can not exactly tell whether that was a poor directing choice or poor writing, or perhaps both.

Speaking of the screenplay, I find Jason Hall such a strange choice as the writer for this film. His only previous writing credit is the 2013 movie Paranoia, which bombed critically. Now, I understand that not every writer can consistently pitch perfect scripts, but why of all people was he the final choice to write the screenplay for this movie? It seems more like the job for a veteran screenwriter than a sophomore attempt. And unfortunately, Hall's script isn't that great. I don't know how heavily he borrowed from the source material, but regardless, this script creates some rather bland characters and at times, very poor dialogue. That's not to say it's all bad, as there are some very good scenes in the film that work because of the dialogue. The script is messy, but it has its bright moments.

However, the film fails in two major aspects; portraying Chris Kyle and showing how the post traumatic stress disorder affected him. Though Cooper gives a tremendous performance (even if I wouldn't call it an Oscar worthy one), Chris Kyle does not come across as a likable character. In fact, there was barely a thing to like about him. Regardless of how accurate this was to the real person, if this is to be his movie, then the audience should be like Chris Kyle. I didn't hate him, but he was very irritating at times. I found that I cared for his safety not because I liked the character, but rather because I cared about how it would affect his family. On that note, it succeeded in the family aspect (which is relatively minor to be fair) but utterly fails on making the main character likable. Also, Kyle's PTSD is rather glossed over. Don't get me wrong, what is shown is very good, and those scenes are some of the highlights of the movie. But the film only goes skin deep. It never fully explores what was going in his mind. It fell short of its goal and it is sad to say that because the potential is clearly on display.

I also felt that the movie dragged on quite a bit. I don't mean in length, but rather the events of the story. It seemed very rinse and repeat. Kyle goes to war, comes home, realizes he "needs" the war, and returns. This is repeated about three times. I know these are real life events, but it felt very stale. Had the film explored Kyle's character more and showed the audience what kept taking him back to the battlefield, this could have worked. The film kind of explains this, but not very well. In addition, the ending is the very definition of tacked on. It's no spoiler that he dies at the end seeing as how he died while the film was being made. But it is literally glanced over and given such poor treatment.

If I had to give this movie one more credit, that would go to its sound department. I don't mean the score, as that is quite forgettable. I mean the sound effects. These sound incredible, and actually made the film more immersive, more of an experience. Those sounds made me feel as if I was there with the "characters." Everything sounded real and loud. The heartbeats, the guns, even the well placed moments of complete silence. It all works.

Much like Unbroken, I don't quite know what to call American Sniper. It's not quite a bad film, but at the same time it's not a very good one either. It has two great leading performances, some great direction, a number of very, very tense scenes, and an emotional moment here and there. But couple that with boring characters, a repetitive story, a weak script, and plenty of missed ambitious marks, and you have the definition of a mixed bag. I could really only recommend this to the very curious, as it is at least pretty entertaining. Aside from that, I don't really see myself watching this film anytime again in the near future.

Grade: C+