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#50 - American Sniper
Clint Eastwood, 2014
Chronicles the military career of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), a sniper with the Navy SEALs, as he enlists and goes on four separate tours of Iraq during the War on Terror.
Even if I were to completely disregard Chris Kyle's more disagreeable real-life actions, it still wouldn't make American Sniper a film I felt any real appreciation towards. Sure, it's got some tense moments but I figure those are part and parcel of any sufficiently competent film set during wartime and there's got to be more to a film than just tension in a vacuum. Cooper's performance is decent enough but ultimately hampered by his guttural Texan accent, which can be a little incomprehensible at times. His work at conveying post-traumatic stress disorder is okay, but his scenes being an active soldier who's frequently wracked with guilt leaves something to be desired, especially when he has to make tough life-or-death decisions. Sienna Miller's initial appearance as the tough-talking Taya makes a good impression but she is soon reduced to being another one of those wives who worries about her husband's obsession with his incredibly dangerous professional life. This is another character trope that I recognise has to exist so as to provide some sort of balance to the more directly engaging action of the main plot, but scenes involving this particular type of character generally feel obligatory instead of necessary. Other characters in the film lack sufficient definition, whether it's the other members of Kyle's company or any insurgent antagonists that get the slightest bit of development. There's the "Butcher" character who gets to bring us the film's most disturbing act of violence but is otherwise a bad caricature, while Kyle's rival sniper Mustafa has enough hints towards being an interesting character (such as winning an Olympic gold medal for shooting before joining the insurgents) but is ultimately left to play an unspeaking, emotionless killer and nothing else. That's without mentioning that one family of non-violent Iraqis who serve as a reminder that not every single Iraqi is a violent militant.
Aside from the characterisation or lack thereof, the film isn't particularly impressive on a technical level. Given Eastwood's age and career length, I guess expecting him to try something radically different would be a big ask, but it does draw a lot of attention to his very safe manner of depicting the military conflict on display here. It doesn't help that various tiresome wartime tropes are in play - there is at least one character who talks about marrying his girl back home before getting shot. It's such a familiar plot device that I don't even consider it to be a spoiler anymore. Even an attempt to shake things up by having the climatic conflict take place in the path of a sandstorm backfires by making the visuals hard to follow as a result. The scenes of Kyle trying to adapt to life back home don't add all that much to the film:
American Sniper has shades of being a decent film, but it's let down not just by the real Kyle's reputation but also by being a fairly cut-and-dry wartime biopic that serves to encourage some unfortunate attitudes with its double-edged celebration of American militarism. Though the film takes its time to showcase the ill effects that being a soldier ultimately has on on Kyle, those scenes do get lost in the shuffle of showcasing Kyle's impressive sniping ability. Having nearly every character (Iraqi and American alike) except for Kyle get reduced to basic archetypes doesn't help it become a good story either, nor does the reliance on worn-out developments. A tense moment here and there does little to benefit the film as a whole. Attempting to shrug off the jingoistic nature of a lot of this film's scenes is a challenge. It's got enough quality on offer that I don't hate it outright, but that doesn't mean I like it.
Clint Eastwood, 2014
Chronicles the military career of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), a sniper with the Navy SEALs, as he enlists and goes on four separate tours of Iraq during the War on Terror.
Even if I were to completely disregard Chris Kyle's more disagreeable real-life actions, it still wouldn't make American Sniper a film I felt any real appreciation towards. Sure, it's got some tense moments but I figure those are part and parcel of any sufficiently competent film set during wartime and there's got to be more to a film than just tension in a vacuum. Cooper's performance is decent enough but ultimately hampered by his guttural Texan accent, which can be a little incomprehensible at times. His work at conveying post-traumatic stress disorder is okay, but his scenes being an active soldier who's frequently wracked with guilt leaves something to be desired, especially when he has to make tough life-or-death decisions. Sienna Miller's initial appearance as the tough-talking Taya makes a good impression but she is soon reduced to being another one of those wives who worries about her husband's obsession with his incredibly dangerous professional life. This is another character trope that I recognise has to exist so as to provide some sort of balance to the more directly engaging action of the main plot, but scenes involving this particular type of character generally feel obligatory instead of necessary. Other characters in the film lack sufficient definition, whether it's the other members of Kyle's company or any insurgent antagonists that get the slightest bit of development. There's the "Butcher" character who gets to bring us the film's most disturbing act of violence but is otherwise a bad caricature, while Kyle's rival sniper Mustafa has enough hints towards being an interesting character (such as winning an Olympic gold medal for shooting before joining the insurgents) but is ultimately left to play an unspeaking, emotionless killer and nothing else. That's without mentioning that one family of non-violent Iraqis who serve as a reminder that not every single Iraqi is a violent militant.
Aside from the characterisation or lack thereof, the film isn't particularly impressive on a technical level. Given Eastwood's age and career length, I guess expecting him to try something radically different would be a big ask, but it does draw a lot of attention to his very safe manner of depicting the military conflict on display here. It doesn't help that various tiresome wartime tropes are in play - there is at least one character who talks about marrying his girl back home before getting shot. It's such a familiar plot device that I don't even consider it to be a spoiler anymore. Even an attempt to shake things up by having the climatic conflict take place in the path of a sandstorm backfires by making the visuals hard to follow as a result. The scenes of Kyle trying to adapt to life back home don't add all that much to the film:
WARNING: "American Sniper" spoilers below
The film's denouement follows Kyle after he has finally completed his service and is now spending his time trying to help with rehabilitating other veterans. The continued length of this sequence can really fatigue an audience, no matter how relevant it ultimately ends up being to the film's true ending where one of the veterans Kyle tries to help ultimately ends up killing him off-screen.
American Sniper has shades of being a decent film, but it's let down not just by the real Kyle's reputation but also by being a fairly cut-and-dry wartime biopic that serves to encourage some unfortunate attitudes with its double-edged celebration of American militarism. Though the film takes its time to showcase the ill effects that being a soldier ultimately has on on Kyle, those scenes do get lost in the shuffle of showcasing Kyle's impressive sniping ability. Having nearly every character (Iraqi and American alike) except for Kyle get reduced to basic archetypes doesn't help it become a good story either, nor does the reliance on worn-out developments. A tense moment here and there does little to benefit the film as a whole. Attempting to shrug off the jingoistic nature of a lot of this film's scenes is a challenge. It's got enough quality on offer that I don't hate it outright, but that doesn't mean I like it.