American Sniper Review

Finally saw this much discussed movie.  I had heard how it ended so I was bit reluctant to see it.  However, overall I'm glad I did.  This is the story of Chris Kyle and his amazing story of becoming a legend in the SEAL teams for his sniping skills.  I thought Bradley Cooper did a wonderful job playing the main character and Sienna Miller had much more of a part than a traditional war movie allows.  What were the take-aways of this movie without spoiling it for you?

1. Did a great job showing the struggle of man to go from fighting a war to raising a family.  This is a struggle I only know the second half about.  Raising a family ain't easy.  However, I thought the writing and directing captured well the struggle of man going from war-time alertness to husband and dad.   I don't know from experience, but this transition is no easy one to take on.  Chris Kyle dealt with it, and still managed to adjust.

2. Showed the horrors of war and the struggles within a man to do what was right.  This movie did a great job showing how evil the enemy is.  So much so that I caution anyone with a sensitive stomach to be careful watching this movie.  Let's just say the bad guys were truly hideous in this movie.

3. I haven't read the book by the same name,  but I felt like the movie gave me the summation of it.  I usually prefer book reading to movie watching.  However, on this movie I don't think I will be reading the book.  It was powerful, well acted, and I felt like I understood Chris Kyle's life enough that I don't need to read the biography as well.

4. Finally I felt it was well-written and directed for a being a biographical movie.  Biographical movies are tough, because if they are too accurate they can bog down and get boring.  I never felt that with American Sniper.  The movie pace kept me interested and I never felt like it was getting boring dwelling on one part too long.  I think Clint Eastwood and the script writer did a great job distilling this movie into the time it took to tell the story right.

Negatives: Despite the good direction and excellent story-telling this movie did feature graphic violence and harsh language.  I would not recommend this for children or for those sensitive to war violence and colorful language.    Overlooking those traits,  you may be interested to watch the Chris Kyle story in American Sniper.