Review: American Sniper

The great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa was 83 when he made his last film Madadayo; Clint Eastwood is 84 and his latest effort, American Sniper, centers on a samurai of sorts: Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. history, having amassed a total of 160 confirmed kills over four tours of duty as a Navy SEAL.

"You're going to make a fine hunter someday," Kyle's father says, taking note of his son's shooting skills. His father teaches him that the world is divided into sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. Sheepdogs possess the "gift of aggression" and are charged with protecting the flock. Kyle takes his father's words to heart - years later when Kyle is working as a rodeo rider, he's appalled by news of the American embassy bombings ("Look what they did to us.") and volunteers to be a SEAL. "[America] is the greatest country on Earth, and I'll do whatever I can to protect it."

Eastwood chronicles each of the four tours of duty as an inversion of Kurosawa's Rashomon. Instead of the same episode told from four differing perspectives, we have four episodes which are essentially the same in content seen from a singular perspective. Whether it be Fallujah, Ramadi, or Sadyr City, Kyle is called upon to decide whether or not a potential target is a threat; once that decision is made, he dispatches them with such accuracy that his fellow soldiers nickname him "Legend" and the enemy places a bounty on his head.

Kyle's tours of duty afford Eastwood and his crew the opportunity to masterfully stage numerous complicated, large-scale setpieces, each subsequent tour increasing in intensity and culminating in a gun battle fought in the midst of a massive sandstorm. On a less heightened note, the film observes Kyle's frustration with the less well-trained Marines and his eagerness to be on the ground rather than fighting from a distance ("You can't shoot what you can't see.").

More problematic for both Kyle and the film are the brief interludes at home, where Kyle's desire to be back on the battlefield is at odds with the family life his wife Taya (Sienna Miller) urges him to acknowledge and embrace. It's especially unfortunate that scenes are shown where Taya phones Kyle whilst he's in the midst of the perilous action. Whether or not this actually happened is irrelevant, the scenes simply don't play well and add a jarring histrionic element to an otherwise understated film.

Bradley Cooper packed on 40 pounds for the role and the extra weight has anchored his sometimes restless energy. He's quite extraordinary, self-controlled yet expressive, perfectly conveying the gradual fog of war that seeps into Kyle's bloodstream. In fact, he does this with such pinpoint precision that the film could be shown out of order and one would still know, based on his portrayal alone, which emotional stage Kyle is in.

It should be said that, while Jason Hall based his screenplay on Kyle's autobiography (co-written with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice), the film shines a more respectful light on a man whose own words would lead you to believe he was a natural born killer. "I only wish I had killed more," Kyle writes in his book. The film turns that sentiment into regret for those he couldn't save and protect; the book makes it clear that 160 kills were not enough.

American Sniper

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Written by: Jason Hall; based on American Sniper, written by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen, Jim DeFelice

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Keir O'Donnell, Luke Grimes, Eric Close, Sam Jaeger, Mido Hamada