American Sniper

Is Clint Eastwood’s portrait of the late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle simple rah-rah, American flag-waving jingoism, as some are suggesting? Hardly. Yes, the Americans are unequivocally the good guys while the film is not much concerned with the Iraqi point of view. An aura of patriotic reverence permeates even the most wrenching moments. But the tone is anything but celebratory. Respectful, but not celebratory, and fittingly somber for what is ultimately a tragic story.

As has been prominently displayed in the movie’s marketing, Kyle (played by Bradley Cooper) served in Iraq and recorded more kills than any sniper in U.S. military history. Based on his memoir of the same name, the film depicts episodes from his experiences at war. The straight-up combat sequences are as flawlessly edited and convincing as any of the greatest war pictures. But it’s the less clear-cut scenes, as Kyle agonizes over whether or not the people in his sites (women and children included) are a threat, that are so searing and intense. At times, dehumanization is necessary, as the immediacy of danger leaves no time for pondering the morality of killing. That doesn’t make the act any less horrific, however, and even if he can’t, the audience certainly can see an almost measurable effect on the character’s psyche as the movie goes on.

Physically, Cooper embodies the role very well, but the real strength of his performance is in the subtleties. Outwardly, he never shifts from the strong, righteous American archetype that’s existed since John Wayne movies. It’s convincing, and yet, also quite clearly only skin-deep. It’s obvious underneath the warrior shell that he’s in torment. Things as small as a look on his face or a detached disinterest in social situations speak volumes.

Those demons come to the surface in the home front scenes, as Kyle finds difficulty in reconnecting with his wife (Sienna Miller) and being a father. Here, Eastwood utilizes every plot device he can to really nail the point. Sometimes it’s because of Cooper’s understated acting. In the same sense, Miller seems little more than constantly at her wit’s end, but that only highlights the distance between them. Other times, it isn’t subtle at all and uses obvious techniques and dramatic situations of dysfunction we’ve seen before. It’s almost blatantly emotionally manipulative, but it works all the same.

Eastwood likewise uses familiar archetypes to reel us in early. The training scenes aren’t much different from about a million other military movies. A short prologue between a young Kyle (Cole Konis) and his father (Ben Reed) is almost like a Western cliché (not to mention resembles a similar scene in the 2001 film Enemy at the Gates). It almost seems like it’s going to be a conventional genre picture until it hits us with the reality of warfare, and becomes instead an incredibly tense and emotional piece of work.