The film opens on a tense scene. Kyle (Bradley Cooper) overlooks a convoy moving through a destroyed city. From his vantage point, he sees a potentially lethal situation: a mother and child hurrying towards the American soldiers armed with a bomb. The decision to fire is all his. Thoughts race through his mind, including that of his pregnant wife at home, the consequences of killing a child... The nature of this war, itself.
The drama then mellows, and we flash backwards to Kyle's childhood, conservative to say the least. He learns to never put his gun in the dirt while deer hunting, and his father teaches him the importance of protecting others. In church, he steals a small pocket-sized Bible. We learn very little about this boy besides the essentials, and in jumping ahead to his time as a bullrider and rugged cowboy, we wonder what has become of his life in the meantime.
Eastwood is a very skilled director and shows us the key elements of the story and exactly what the movie needs to carry an emotional weight. At the same time, this is an extremely brutal film, one that does not sugarcoat wartime violence nor glorify any aspects of war. One of the film's focuses is on the juxtaposition between Kyle's time at home versus his active duty. On the front, he is active, empowered, and close with his fellow soldiers. At home, he sits in silence and becomes distanced from his wife. The sound of a drill at a mechanics sends his mind racing with dark images. How any soldier can make the transition from two such extremes is amazing, and one that takes Kyle the course of the war to understand.
As an actor, Bradley Cooper has made quite a remarkable turnaround, going from Hollywood comedies to three-time Oscar nominee (in consecutive years, no less). With 'American Sniper,' he is at last a leading man. It is a very calculated performance that seems to come so effortlessly - fascinating to the point of being unnoticeable. Besides the physicality behind his appearance (allegedly gaining over 40 pounds of muscle), he is a man of few words and bottled emotions. Two scenes in particular highlight his mindset: one in which he sees a child pick up a bazooka and point it at a crowd, and one in which he takes a phone call in a bar. Obviously these are two moments in the film that couldn't be more different, but look at his reactions to the outcome of each. This isn't merely acting, rather a man who understands the consequences of all of his actions and the value of life, itself.
At times the story becomes burdened with a few cliches, ones that are easily forgivable. We see an enemy sniper (perhaps with Al Qaeda), one who's name becomes as legendary as Kyle's. He picks off Americans with stunning accuracy, and the final battle becomes a match between these two rivals. For a film so focused on dealing with the inner struggles of war, this 'good versus evil' take on the plot becomes almost trivial. The audience thinks our climax of the film is the final battle between these two men, but the real conclusion (and perhaps Eastwood hoped we would see) was the final shot of battle as Kyle leaves his weapon behind in the sand... For a movie so involved with a global war, it's hard to see that this is actually a very personal, quiet film; one of reverence and compassion.
(Awards potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Cooper), Best Supporting Actress (Miller), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing)
No comments:
Post a Comment