Spatial Openness
American
Sniper (2014)
A Review By Ben Hunter
4 Out Of 5 Stars
GET TO THE POINT
BEN!
There were gaps I
feel my imagination couldn’t quite fill in the blanks. Nonetheless, overall, I did connect with the story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After spotting the enemy, he attempts and succeeds with one
of the longest sniper kills ever recorded.
But now he has exposed his team’s position and is now caught in
gunfire. With this being his 4th
tour going back into warfare, Chris Kyle, the most deadliest marksman in U.S.
military history with 255 sniper kills confides in his wife Taya, amongst the
gunfire that he’s ready to come home and be a husband and father for his
family. But all isn’t well as the men he
couldn’t save in Iraq haunt Kyle in a pensive manner. Taya, under duress, Kyle on the verge of a
mental breakdown, how does the “American Sniper” bounce back from war, if at
all?
Clint Eastwood directs an adaptation based on the book from
Kyle himself and a few others to deliver his most successful film to date.
This is a film that made me recognize the mental hardships
of war. There are war films that
typically show just how the physical brutality can take its toll. But I love how we slowly see how the cerebral
effects play their part and have the potential to tear a man’s psyche, and
overall well being apart. I loved how Bradley
Cooper (Kyle) portrayed this. The work
he put into the role to look the character and become a military man was work
well accomplished. I even loved his
southern, Texas, country boy accent.
 |
| The mental effects of war are starting to take their toll on American Sniper Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper). |
Eastwood, being no stranger to film, knew what to focus
on. So I was quite engaged when the
relationships of Kyle’s life were at the helm and the focal point of the
action. Caught in gunfire, I experienced
a man wanting to get back home to be a good man to his family. While in confrontation, I saw strength in
character yet the fair and candid nature of a hero amongst foreigners and
potential threats to America. I acutely
connected with Sienna Miller’s disposition (Taya) and felt her pain as a woman
crying out in desperate need of her man to lead her family and take care of her
and her offspring.
There was a feeling of spatial openness with this film. It’s probably because I made the mistake of
reading the book first. But nonetheless,
I kept feeling as if there were gaps that needed to be filled and not the
successful writing job successfully accomplished where it cleverly takes you to
the point where your imagination does the rest.
Instead, I felt there needed to be something more to carry me to that
point where my imagination was waiting in the car to drive me the rest of the
way. As a result, I think this film in
all of its capacities is taking up the space for the more deserving this awards
season.
But I did have an intense, heart racing, experience. The sandstorm scene confirmed this for me,
which made me happy to see the hero desire to be with his family. I said, “Awe I want a family to protect and
care for!” So this is a story I still
connected with nonetheless.
I mean come on, it’s Clint Eastwood; he’s no stranger when it comes
to storytelling!
American Sniper
Biography, 132 Minutes, R
Based on the book “American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most
Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History” by: Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen, & Jim
DeFelice
Screenplay by: Jason Hall
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner
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