Fighting a War Overseas, and Thinking About it at Home

Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle in "American Sniper"

After Clint Eastwood’s latest contributions to war cinema in 2006, “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters from Iwo Jima,” which were companion-piece World War II films, he returns to the genre with “American Sniper,” a film that follows the Navy SEAL assignments of Chris Kyle, an individual who is considered to be the most deadly sniper in the history of the U.S. military.

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is a Texan who spends his time as a cowboy in the rodeo.  After watching news coverage of the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Nairobi, he enlists in the Navy SEALs, where he soon becomes a sniper.  After the 9/11 attacks, he is deployed to Iraq.  During his four tours of duty, Chris will become more and more accustomed to fighting overseas and will soon be burdened by the thoughts of war during his time at home.

In what is Bradley Cooper’s most dramatic performance to date, he successfully shows us how the war is changing his character.  As a marine who quickly becomes a top sharpshooter, Cooper shows in his eyes and facial expressions how he processes the moral dilemmas he faces when positioned behind a gun.  We can sense everything that is going through his mind as he decides whether or not to pull the trigger on certain targets, especially in the suspenseful opening scene.  Chris calls to mind Jeremy Renner’s role from “The Hurt Locker,” a character who can’t seem to pull himself away from the field of battle and eventually has some trouble adjusting to a normal life once he’s taken out of the danger he has become accustomed to.  By the time Chris is ready to go home and calls his wife to tell her, you can easily perceive the emotional toll that this war has had on him.  With all of this, Cooper powerfully offers us a look into the psyche of his character and the changes that the war had on him.  

Sienna Miller, who plays Chris’ wife Taya, has a strong presence as a military wife and exemplifies the challenges and heartache that a loved one experiences when someone close to them is fighting overseas.

The screenplay by Jason Hall, which is based on an autobiography by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen, and Jim DeFelice, transitions between Chris’ four tours of duty and his family life, so we’re able to see how he functions as a SEAL and a family man, and we see how the two sides of his character process the war.  The story serves as a study of Chris as he grapples with his hunger to serve his country and task of having to assimilate back into civilian life whenever he returns from a tour. 

With the time that the story spends to focus on Chris at war, I do wish, however, that the film used some more time to concentrate on his family and the effects that the war had on his home life, both in between his tours and at the end of his time overseas.  The couple of scenes near the end of the film with Chris trying to get used to living at home again are especially compelling because we see what the war has done to him, both emotionally and mentally, and a little more of that would have benefitted the film.

After Eastwood’s last three movies as a director didn’t reach the heights of the talent that he is capable of showcasing, “American Sniper” is his best movie since “Invictus.”  In the segments that take place during the war, Eastwood provides several scenes of high tension, particularly the opening minutes and a thrillingly shot, climactic sandstorm near the film’s end; and in the segments with Chris at home, the drama that Eastwood constructs between Chris and Taya shows how the former’s time overseas is impacting them both.  

Despite a few previous directorial missteps, Eastwood shows that he still has his treasured ability to make a great movie, and after this summer’s “Jersey Boys,” that’s a considerable relief.

Final grade: A-