Director: Clint Eastwood
Talent: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Luke Grimes, Kyle Gallner
Release Date: 16th January 2015
Clint Eastwood’s directing career has been waning over the past decade and, in what is supposed to be a return to form, he fumbles again, letting his politics get in the way of the truth. American Sniper details the military career of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), a Navy Seal responsible for over 160 confirmed kills while on tour in Iraq. Shown as a psychologically wounded but fundamentally decent family man, Cooper proves himself with a career best performance. Unfortunately for Cooper, Eastwood has assembled an array of problematic features to bring the film down. The film’s celebration of guns, even with its title, along with simplistic and often offensive portrayals of Middle Easterners as ‘savage’ and ‘animals’ aren’t even its biggest problems. The decision to completely ignore questioning the moral complexity of Kyle’s killings along with a persistent and extreme jingoism keep American Sniper way off the mark.
Words: Stephen McCabe
