American Sniper

Based on true events, American Sniper follows Bradley Cooper’s Chris Kyle as he becomes a celebrated marksman in the Iraq War but finds himself unable to adjust to life back at home. Filmmaker Clint Eastwood, working from Jason Hall’s screenplay, delivers an exceedingly (and often excessively) deliberate drama that generally feels as though it’s emerged directly from a template for stories of this ilk, as the picture, which runs a palpably overlong 132 minute, contains virtually every cliché and convention that one might’ve anticipated from the far-from-fresh premise – which, when coupled with Eastwood’s predictably lackadaisical approach, paves the way for a narrative that remains hopelessly unable to capture the viewer’s wholehearted interest and attention. (The arms-length atmosphere is certainly not helped by the ongoing emphasis on a tedious subplot involving an enemy sniper.) It’s clear, then, that American Sniper‘s relatively tolerable vibe is due almost entirely to Cooper’s commanding performance and a periodic smattering of admittedly engrossing sequences, and there’s little doubt, ultimately, that the film likely would’ve fared better had it focused solely on either Chris’ wartime experiences or his efforts at readjusting to his family life – with the movie, in the end, coming off as an ineffective, been-there-done-that endeavor that fails as both a war picture and a coming-home story.

** out of ****