***May Contain Spoilers!***
Last Saturday, I was persuaded to go to the movies by my generous boyfriend and his $30 Fandango gift card. Of course, I wanted to see Night at the Museum 3: Secret of the Tomb, because I’m a sucker for cheesy kids movies and Rebel Wilson’s comedic performances. However, he had the gift card and paid for dinner, so I thought I would sacrifice my last Robin Williams film and go see American Sniper. And boy, was I glad I did.
American Sniper was just nominated for best picture by the Academy Awards, and, by all regards, it deserves a win. The movie tells the story of U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle and his life as the most deadly sniper in United States. Kyle had over 160 confirmed kills during his lifetime. After surviving four tours in Iraq, he published his autobiography titled American Sniper, and director Clint Eastwood adapted the novel into a movie of the same name.
The movie follows Kyle’s life as a child protecting his younger brother, to his decision to fight in the war following 9/11, to his marriage to his wife Taya, and to the countless struggles he faced on the battlefield. Actor Bradley Cooper does an outstanding job playing Kyle, even gaining more than 40 pounds to accurately represent the character. The audience can feel the emotional trauma of killing and destruction that haunts him during and after each tour. It feels as if the actual Chris Kyle is on screen, and the audience is shooting the gun right with him.
The pace of the movie is also well done and touches on all four tours, the importance of each, and his time at home afterwards. The first tour is considerably longer than the others in order to highlight real feelings of war, but it dives into his first kills and the beginning of a very long life in battle. The side characters were also a nice touch, and provided a good bit of humor to relieve the heavy combat scenes. These attributes made audiences want the supporting characters to succeed just as much as they want Kyle to succeed.
Though there was an obvious theme of PTSD in the film, it wasn’t blatantly touched upon as much as I expected. His time at home was considerably short in the film, and only small clips of interactions with his wife really highlighted his post trauma. Kyle was obviously very haunted by the fact that his hands killed so many people, but his issues mainly revolved around his overprotective nature. He felt this overwhelming need to help his country and his family in any way possible, and if at any time he felt like he couldn’t, he became desperate for battle.
The end of the movie left me shocked and upset, but also in utter awe of this man’s life. He was a brave and courageous hero who fought hard to eliminate terroristic threats in America. Chris Kyle has the respect of many men and women, and I hope others will enjoy this movie as much as I did.