American Sniper - Review - Spoiler Free - Oscars Countdown

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller
Director: Clint Eastwood
Genre: Drama
Running time: 132
Certificate: 15

If you're interested in this movie then you've probably already heard about that baby, and if you haven't you are about to. Where to start with American Sniper? My hopes were for a moving portrayal of the effects of conflict in a high pressure military role. I also thought that it might take an interesting look at the families of service men and the sacrifices made both at home and on tour. My hopes were not realised. This film is based on a true story, the source material is the autobiography by Chris Kyle. It follows the life of Kyle (Bradley Cooper) who grows up with a need to protect others. This combined with his environment leads him into a career as a sniper in the US Navy. As his career progresses his home life becomes slowly more fraught.

Does it Hit the Mark?

This was always going to be a difficult movie to review because it is based on autobiography, but the film left me feeling disappointed and unsure why it has been included in this year's Oscars line-up. It is well acted and the direction is sound, but it feels like Eastwood has worked by numbers and it doesn't have the grace of his previous films, like Million Dollar Baby. To add to this, there's a lot of flag waving and huge amounts of patriotism, and the complexities of the story get lost in the politics of the movie. This is a shame because the story of Kyle's life is both astounding and interesting. However, this film has done nothing to elevate it beyond the mediocre. When Kyle's struggle to assimilate his work and home life is explored the film seems to hold back and falls a little flat, which is not helped by Sienna Miller's occasional misfirings in her portrayal of Kyle's wife Taya.

And the Baby...

The movie is at its best when Cooper is expressing Kyle's internal conflicts while in the field. This is also where the film gains dramatic tension, but it still feels a bit slick and glossy with something grittier needed to do justice to the subject matter. And, of course, there's the baby. There is a scene in which Cooper and Miller are acting a distressing and poignant conversation regarding Kyle's return to the field after the birth of their child. This scene is cut through by the baby they are nursing, an obvious doll that is being handed between the adults, it is so unconvincing that is is laughable and destroys the suspension of disbelief for anyone watching. There has been a lot of speculation regarding the reasons for using a doll in this scene, but for a movie with this kind of budget the doll is just plain sloppy.

American Sniper could have been so much more than its end result and if it had a more nuanced approach it might have risen to its potential. This film is slick and functional, but unless you are really interested in the US military or Chris Kyle it might leave you a little cold.