Movie Review: American Sniper (2015) - I guess the question is, does the movie hit it's mark?.......I'll see myself out

Well, I just want to say firstly I’m sorry for the delays, I’ve been ill for the past few days and this just happened to be the first chance I got to see anything new. Before I get started there’s a couple of things I wish to clarify about anything I might say going forward with this. So,

    1.     I am not judging Chris Kyle the real person, I am judging Chris Kyle on how he is portrayed in a fictional version of real events. I know the real Chris Kyle had some controversies surrounding him and I am not here to talk about those, nor judge him on the things he did during his tour of duties. As they said in the film, he’ll stand before his creator and answer for every one of those shots.

    2.     This is not an endorsement of the war in the Middle East. I have no opinion of them one way or the other only to say that my father did two tours, so I have tremendous respect for anyone willing to go over there and do what he did.

     3.     The short answer to what I think about the film, is that it’s just okay. Once again, I am not judging the man nor what he did I am merely judging the film on its interpretation of its characters and events. I wouldn’t judge Martin Luther King Jr. based on David Oyelewo’s performance I’m not going to do the same here okay? So can we all be cool about this? If so, we can begin.

Pros – While Bradley Cooper does do a good job playing Chris I honestly have to give more credit to her for playing his wife, as she tries to be both the voice of reason and his reason for coming home. Clint Eastwood also does a good job directing, going with a more simply shot film for a more simply told story. A couple of moments in the film too were quite emotional, and the way they do the ending of the film was I think the best way they could have done it.

Cons – I wish Sienna Miller had more to do in the film, and I also can’t help but feel like they could have tried to make more of the scenes have a real good emotional kick to them. The beginning of the film is also a bit slow but you do manage to get back into for the most part when it picks up again.

Final Score – 7/10

Solid acting and a steady hand make this a simple story told simply. While I wish they would’ve done more with it I can appreciate it for what it is and what it was trying to do.

I have a plan tomorrow to try and see a couple of other movies, so I either might do a double or space them out. Also, since there is only one movie coming out on Friday I want to see I should be caught up in no time.

Until next time, I’ll see you folks at the movies.