American Sniper Conveys the Wrong Message

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American Sniper Movie Review

Taking the life of another human is wrong under any circumstance. I always thought that to be true. Not if you are a U.S. Navy SEAL like Chris Kyle and a deadly sniper. Apparently, in that case, if you kill people, it makes you a hero. American Sniper is a pro-war movie that glorifies killing and depicts everything in black and white. There is little doubt that if you like violence, you will enjoy American Sniper.

Is this movie worth watching purely from the point of view of entertainment? If you like seeing Bradley Cooper, who plays Chris Kyle, shoot people, you will savor the action sequences where he is in Iraq, some of which play out like a video game. Back home, though, on the personal front, Sienna Miller, who portrays Chris Kyle’s wife Taya Kyle, is a no-show. The scenes between the couple are boring whichever way you look at it. Director Clint Eastwood has underplayed their relationship to such a great extent, that it makes me wonder whether the motive behind making American Sniper was solely to show Chris Kyle killing people in Iraq. While touring to Iraq played a significant role in his life, overlooking other facets of his personality lend a fatal blow to the movie.

On the acting front, I am surprised to see Bradley Cooper nominated for the Best Actor at The Oscars for his overrated portrayal of Chris Kyle. Personally, I liked Jake Gyllenhaal’s acting in Nightcrawler far better. Vying for Best Picture at The Oscars, American Sniper is the most talked about movie by far this year though it is nowhere close to the best picture. Although I haven’t read Chris Kyle’s autobiography, the source material for American Sniper, I would like to think that Chris Kyle was a more meaningful person than that portrayed in American Sniper.

How I wished that people who watched the movie came out of the theater convinced that bloodshed serves no one any purpose. However, that isn’t going to be the case as I doubt that was Clint Eastwood’s intention when he set out to make American Sniper.

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