With his latest directorial effort, "American Sniper," director Clint Eastwood proves from beginning to end that he has created his greatest and his most tense film since the 2008 drama, "Gran Torino." Opening with a scene of unmeasurable suspense for the title character, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), the film indicates early to its audience how it is going to proceed — with heart-pounding action and heart-wrenching authenticity.
"Sniper" is based off the life of the most lethal sniper in U.S. history, Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, and the popular autobiography he wrote in 2012. After its war-zone prologue, the film transitions to Chris’ childhood with a sentimental scene between him and his father (Ben Reed) as they hunt for deer — his first kill. Later, after a playground bully picks on Chris’ younger brother, Jeff, Kyle’s father delivers an alarmingly scary speech about how to stand up to “predators.” It is a purposely-parallel lesson to the philosophy Chris abides by and the choices he makes throughout his military career. “We aren’t raising any sheep in this family,” he tells them. “We protect our own.” His message seems to resonate with the brothers as the film then flash-forwards some years to them as young men, living the lives of wannabe cowboys together. That soon changes when Chris watches news footage of two attacks on U.S. embassies and decides to join the Armed Forces.
Kyle then goes into fierce military training, depicted in the film with a sequence similar to the rigorous bootcamp montages of "Full Metal Jacket." Certainly more in respect to the physical demands than the psychological ones.
During his training, Chris meets his future wife, Taya, portrayed in the film by Sienna Miller. They’re happy together — one of the first times it seems either of them truly are — but soon after they get married, Kyle is sent overseas on his first of four tours of duty. And from that moment on, Chris is forced to try and balance his life as a soldier and as a family man. One of the things that makes "American Sniper" so special as a war film is that it does an excellent job depicting the two wars all soldiers have to fight: the actual fight, and the mental battle of leaving someone behind. Kyle believes in the war effort. He bleeds red, white, and blue, and his code (or more appropriately, a list of priorities) is “God. Country. Family.”
It is a difficult life for Kyle, but it’s not easy for Taya either. “I’m making memories by myself. I have no one to share them with.” But even when Chris does come home between tours, he isn’t Taya’s husband, he’s still a soldier. Chris suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, common among combat veterans. He struggles adapting back into civilized life, jumping at the sound of a loud noise, and seeing a roughhousing dog as a threat, but he has Taya by his side, and she encourages him to get help. Though Chris is known as the “legend” in Iraq, Taya is his hero.
After his four tours of duty in Iraq, Chris Kyle had around 160 confirmed kills, the most of any sniper in U.S. military history. And Eastwood delivers the many gripping battle sequences with an underlying layer of respect and realism, really capturing the silent horrors and abruptness of war. The audience watches Kyle evolve as a killer. A heroic one, if there is such a thing. After the first fight, in which Kyle must take down a mother and a child who are carrying a grenade, he’s distraught. “You did your job, that’s the end of the story,” a buddy tries to assure Kyle. “Yeah, that’s just not how I visioned the first one going down.” Chris then continues his service as the Marines’ overwatch, their guardian angel, looking out for and killing the people who are after his men. “They feel invincible with you up there,” another SEAL tells him.
As Kyle’s service drags on, he kills many people. But what’s important to remember is that with every shot he takes, he is saving the life of an American. After he is asked about whether or not he’s done some things in Iraq that he may have regretted, Chris replies “I was protecting our guys, they were trying to kill our soldiers, and I’m willing to meet my creator and answer for every shot that I took.” What he tells the doctor next is reminiscent to Liam Neeson’s meltdown at the conclusion of "Schindler’s List": “The thing that haunts me are all the guys that I didn’t save. Now I’m willing and able to be there, but I’m not.”
