In director Clint Eastwood’s best films (“Gran Torino,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “Unforgiven,” “The Outlaw Josey Wales”), the multiple Oscar-winner is able to make us feel both the righteousness of justified violence and the heavy emotional price paid by those committing it. “American Sniper,” which is undoubtedly Eastwood’s best picture since “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), and might just be his best since “Unforgiven” (1992), faithfully constructs and respectfully deconstructs “The Legend”: Chris Kyle, the deadliest sniper in the history of the U.S. Military.Keep reading.
“American Sniper” opens during the worst days of Fallujah in Iraq. Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is the eye in the sky watching his fellow warriors through a sniper scope and protecting them when necessary with the kind of precision shooting that will quickly make him a legend (and target).
Through a door, an Iraqi woman emerges with a boy who can’t be older than 10. They walk towards a group of Marines. She hands the boy a large grenade. Kyle has been told by his superiors that what happens next is his call.
War is ugly and it’s not pretty watching our guys kick in doors. But there are bad guys behind those doors, and no matter how bad those guys might be, Eastwood makes sure the audience knows Americans don’t carry power drills or take lives out of any motive other than self-defense.
There is nothing even close to moral equivalence in “America Sniper,” only the truth: that there is no equivalence between the barbarians who target the innocent and the American heroes who target those who target the innocent...
I saw the movie last night, at the 10:15pm showing in the IMAX theater at the Irvine Spectrum.
For me it was more like a documentary, and hence not my favorite war film. Indeed, it's not quite as harrowing as "Lone Survivor," although I wouldn't pick one over the other. It's just that with Chris Kyle in "American Survivor," you're getting an up-close-and-personal look at the onset and duration of PTSD. That Kyle was able to ride it out in all-American grunt style, and then help alleviate his pain by giving back to the disabled veterans' community, only suggests that the ultimate reckoning with his status as "Legend" of Iraq was inevitably delayed. We'll never know, for of course he was killed by a disturbed vet who he was trying to help by taking him out to the shooting range. The film handles that portion of his life with an extremely admirable minimalism. Indeed, I'd have to check, but there's a lot of authentic footage at the conclusion of the movie for Kyle's memorial procession, where the streets were lined with thankful citizens waving U.S. flags in commemoration.
The acting's superb. Bradley Cooper should probably win best actor, although he won't because feel-good patriotic movies don't go over with the correctness set in Hollywood. Or at least I don't expect it to. And Clint Eastwood's directing is indeed phenomenal. The battle scenes put you on the ground at the center of the action. While extremely realistic, there isn't a Stephen Spielberg-level of gory detail. It's more precision, neat bloodshed and death. Come to think of it, "Black Hawk Down" dwelt more on the visceral carnage of war more than this film did. But I like that about "American Sniper." In fact, the biggest letdown of the film is that we don't have more development of what's happening in country, in Iraq. I understand it's an autobiography, but the the chronological approach to Kyle's tours had me wondering how much longer the movie was going to play. I hate that. It's a signal to me that the pace is lagging.
Be that as it may, those who've served, or those who've worked with veterans and in doing PTSD charitable work, will be extremely pleased with this production. Dana Loesch had practically an out-of-boy experience seeing this, especially in that she saw the film at the premiere in Texas, surrounded with the principals and within the background of her experiences with military weapons training groups as so forth. Dana's take also expresses the necessary humility we should all have when watching films like this. Chris Kyle's patriotism and duty simply can't be faked. Unless you've placed you life on the line like that you're not going to fully "get it."
It helps, in my case, having a dad from the "Greatest Generation," and of course I study and teach military history and international relations. As I get older I feel the need to honor those who've put their lives on the line. It's only natural. The war on terror is nowhere near concluded. Our political leadership, especially President Obama, would like us to think it is. But the sad reality is it's not, and many more people are going to die, as victims of Islam's global jihad, and as those who've answered the call of duty to defend against it. "American Sniper" helps us understand the physical, emotional, and psychological costs of that war. As a society we'll deal with those costs more honestly and effectively after 2017, when the current administration leaves office. As it is we're in a break from reality that's mercilessly costing us, particularly in our will to stand up to evil and in our standing in the world as the last bastion and bulwark of freedom.
But these things will pass. And we'll have more stories of hardship and healing in a time of war. And for that we can thank heroes like Chris Kyle. And we can thank the storytellers who're willing to preserve that history and immortalize their experiences on film. There is indeed a silent majority of decency and resilience in this country, but these eternal American attributes atrophy without robust, unflinching, and shamelessly pro-American leadership. With luck the 2016 presidential campaign will help restore values and historical appreciation to our politics. And God willing, the country will elect a president committed to reversing the decline of the last 6 years (8 years by January 20th, 2017) and America can get back to being the "last best hope of Earth."
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