Navy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle’s pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home with his family after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can’t leave behind.
A decade after its initial release, “American Sniper” still resonates as an in-depth glimpse at a very specialized and stressful occupation that – as with most aspects of war – takes its toll on the human psyche along with the physical costs. This is not a run-of-the-mill action movie with clear distinctions between right and wrong. Instead, the narrative is full of grays and ambiguities.
Bradley Cooper stars in an Oscar-nominated performance as Chris Kyle. An early flashback reveals a young boy’s crack shot skills while hunting deer with his father – a precursor of things to come.
The story later explores Kyle’s journey as a weekend rodeo rider, eventually transitioning to his Navy SEAL enlistment and training after witnessing attacks on U.S. troops overseas. Much the way many were called to serve after 9/11, Kyles feels compelled to put his particular talents to use.
At 30 years old, Kyle was likely the oldest recruit in his SEAL class—they nicknamed him “old man.” Needless to say, the washout rate for both young and relatively old candidates is high. The notoriously rigorous training is depicted briefly, not unlike other films in the genre.
Kyle meets Taya (Sienna Miller) in a bar frequented by the off-duty military and persists enough to win a second date, which eventually turns into marriage. At their reception, Kyle’s unit is called into action for his first tour in Iraq.
On the ground, reality quickly sets in. When he spots a woman and boy approaching a U.S. convoy, he is forced to use his talents to deadly effect, constituting his first kill. Despite his partner’s congratulations, Kyle pushes back, insisting on keeping the incident clinical in nature—one of many examples in which the movie departs from clichéd treatment of the situation.
Kyle’s challenges continue unabated. What becomes evident in short order is that Chris is really good at his job – both about identifying legitimate targets and then executing with precision, again and again. The role is a cross between up close and personal infantry combat, on the one hand, and the extreme detachment that air combat pilots have described in their bombing missions. Nonetheless, however detached as a sniper may be, he can still see his targets go down from one of his bullets. It becomes evident that the Marines have trained recruits such as Kyle on the mechanics of a clean kill but not on how to deal with the psychological repercussions that creep up slowly afterward – otherwise known as Post-traumatic stress disorder.
Cell phone technology enables Kyle to speak with Taya in real time as he scouts potential threats to U.S. troops in Iraq. This is kind of cool but also kind of creepy. As with many military interventions since World War II, the endgame remains very unclear and often counterproductive to U.S. interests.
One of the more intense scenes occurs when Taya is on a call with Chris. Unexpectedly, his convoy comes under sniper fire. Taya listens helplessly as the Marine unit attempts to deal with the threat, desperately hoping for a positive outcome. The mission fares poorly, but Chris emerges alive.
Upon his second arrival to Iraq, a fellow soldier questions Kyle about what the mission intends to accomplish – that war puts lightning in your bones and makes it hard to feel anything else. Kyle says that there’s evil here and that they’ve seen it. The other soldier replies that there’s evil everywhere.
While the film contains the expected requisite action scenes, the time back home away from the field is a key element of the biopic. Taya complains that even when Chris is home, he isn’t really present, similar to “The Hurt Locker,” where Jeremy Renner can’t help but return to combat because it’s what he does best.
One of the most intense moments occurs during Kyle’s fourth tour in Iraq after he has shot and killed a man wielding an RPG. When a small boy picks up the weapon and appears intent on firing into an American position, Kyle agonizes over the life-and-death decision. When the boy drops the RPG launcher and runs away, Kyle begins to have an epiphany.
When Chris decides that military service is over for him, he finds purpose in working with disabled veterans who would benefit from his counsel. More than a little ironically, it is the therapeutic interventions that do him in – despite all the highly hazardous combat missions he previously survived.
Thoughtfully directed by Clint Eastwood, “American Sniper” offers a more nuanced perspective about what it means to play a key supportive role in an elite military organization trying to do good in a complex situation with often conflicting rules of engagement. The cinematography by Tom Stern—a frequent Eastwood collaborator—complements the production well and feels like a cross between black-and-white and color that is simultaneously both and neither. “American Sniper” stands the test of time superbly and remains a cautionary tale about war and its perversely alluring nature.
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