American Sniper Review

American Sniper is a sober and emotional look at one man’s experience over the course of four tours in Iraq.  Brady Cooper turns in a good performance as the late Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, but is somewhat overshadowed by Sienna Miller who is called upon to do more emotional scenes. Director Clint Eastwood paints Kyle’s enemies as unremittingly evil, but manages to make no overbearing political statement on either gun violence or the war itself. One thing that is sensitively spotlighted is the emotional impact long war time deployments have on front-line soldiers, and for this the movie should be applauded. However, the film strays from Kyle’s original memoir and seems too eager to have every scene neatly connected to another, when this would not have been necessary. In spite of this, I would recommend the film to anyone interested in history, but with a caution about its gravely serious tone.  

Four Stars