Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, Mad Chance Productions,
Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Luke Grimes, Jake McDorman, Kevin Lacz, Cory Hardict, Navid Negahban
Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) was a young man who grew up with a religious father who was very strict with them. He grew up strong and straight and true with a real desire to do what’s right. He was about to become a professional cowboy, traveling the rodeo circuit with his younger brother when 9/11 changed everything. Outraged by the terrorist actions of this date, Chris put his life and his new family on hold to become a Navy Seal in Special Operations and head to Iraq. He was blessed with a sharp eye and became the most proficient sniper in history. His primary goal was to protect his Marines and see that they were able to get home safely. The multiple tours took a toll on him and his wife, and when it was over, he tried to find purpose in his life, and he spent the few years he had left trying to help other soldiers, and writing a memoir of his experience. This documentary produced by Clint Eastwood is based on his biography in his own words.
This was a decisive film. Clint Eastwood is loved by many and hated by the rest. His own life would make a wonderful movie, but he does know how to tell a story. His attention to detail in this film is amazing and we experience the horrors of war in first person. I am not sure if Bradley Cooper was the perfect casting choice, but he has the look of Chris Kyle, and I felt he did a good job in the role. He’s a good actor, and seemed to throw himself into the world. In some ways it’s nice to see an American hero like this along with his faults and weaknesses. They are not superheroes, but regular guys doing their best who are able to accomplish amazing feats, but who are not perfect. The controversy about this film seems to be based upon political lines. The pacifists don’t like the idea of making a hero of a killer, but the soldiers will be there doing their job regardless, and the enemy had snipers as well. We would have had many more casualties if there were not men like Chris who put their skills to test to protect our boys. This was a very noble thing to do. I was very, very impressed with the work done on this film and with the story that was told, and the fact that is is nearly a pure documentary. I think it’s good that a story like this can be told in a feature film so that more people are able to see it. If it were a true documentary and not a docu-drama, it would not have received the widespread audience that it did. The story is a tragedy, and I like the way Clint did not spend a lot of time on the tragedy at the end, but just stated the facts as the movie was closing. I would have appreciated a bit more about the occurrence however, and immediately went to Wikipedia to understand more of the events of that day. But since this work is based on Chris’ writings, obviously it wasn’t in the book. I understand why Clint cut it off as he did. I think this was a very well constructed film, and I truly felt like I had witnessed something awful, yet very important. Congratulations to all the people involved in this movie and I appreciate your outstanding efforts to bring this story to life. I highly recommend this film.
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