With our usual cinema reviewer Andy Clucas away on honeymoon, I’ve stepped into his shoes for a couple of weeks.
The first film I’ve been tasked with reviewing is the latest offering from Hollywood A-lister Bradley Cooper.
Expertly directed by Clint Eastwood, American Sniper tells the true story of Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL thought to be the US’s deadliest sniper of all time.
War films aren’t usually my first choice but I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed American Sniper and how I found myself thinking about it long after leaving the cinema.
Texas-born Kyle was an expert marksman from a young age and after trying his hand at rodeo, decided he wanted to fight for his country in the war against terrorism, so enlisted in the Navy SEALs.
Kyle was deployed to Iraq soon after his wedding to Taya – who is brilliantly played by Sienna Miller – and undertook four tours of Iraq during which he is credited with 160 confirmed kills, although the number is thought to be closer to 250.
Anyone who has seen the movie trailer will be wondering whether or not Kyle pulls the trigger with a small boy holding a grenade in his sights. Well, I won’t give it way.
During his first tour Kyle earns the nickname The Legend for his many kills.
He returns home to his wife and first child but is distracted by memories of his war experiences.
Cooper’s portrayal of a man who clearly found it hard to decompress on his return from a war zone was impressive.
He took the role seriously spending months in the gym, gaining 40lbs and watching hours of footage of Kyle to enable him to portray the sniper accurately
Despite wanting to spend time with his wife and son, Kyle is compelled to return to Iraq and fight for his country.
He enlists for a second tour and is promoted to hunt for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
During house-to-house searches, Kyle interrogates a family and the father offers to lead the SEALs to “The Butcher”, al-Zarqawi’s second-in-command. However things don’t go to plan, leading to one of the film’s most harrowing scenes.
Kyle returns home from his second tour to a newborn daughter but continues to struggle with family life.
On his third tour, a member of Kyle’s unit is seriously injured and his unit is evacuated back to base. The unit decides to return to the field and continue their mission. Another SEAL is killed by an insurgent sniper, compelling guilt-ridden Kyle to undertake a fourth tour.
Kyle is assigned to take down the expert insurgent sniper, “Mustafa”, who has been picking off Army combat engineers building a barricade.
Kyle spots the sniper and has to choose between making a risky long distance shot and exposing his team’s position to a large number of armed insurgents or letting the enemy sniper escape.
A firefight ensues, during which Kyle calls Taya and tells her he is ready to come home.
A sandstorm provides cover for their chaotic escape and Kyle is almost left behind.
Kyle returns home, on edge and unable to fully adjust to civilian life.
He tells a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist he is “haunted by all the guys he couldn’t save”.
The psychiatrist encourages him to help wounded veterans in the VA hospital.
Kyle meets veterans who suffered severe injuries, coaches them at a shooting range in the woods, and gradually begins to adjust to home life.
To say much more would give away some major spoilers, so if you want to find out what happens get yourself along to the cinema.
If you’re expecting a full-on action film, then American Sniper’s probably not for you.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty going on, but if you think it’s going to be back-to-back shoot outs, you’ll be disappointed.
Yes, the film centres around a sniper in the middle of a war but there’s so much more to it such as the inner turmoil Kyle suffers as he is clearly torn between being at home with his family or saving the lives of his comrades.
When he finally comes home for good, Kyle finds it incredibly hard to adjust to a normal life, as I imagine many frontline soldiers do.
American Sniper certainly opened my eyes to the unseen horrors of war.
