I'm always leery of disappointment when there is great buzz about a movie. Last night I finally caught up to American Sniper (2014), courtesy of Netflix, and the buzz was warranted. Of course, there are pacifists and leftists who find such fare appalling in that it suggests that warriors are heroes. Based on the book by former Navy Seal Chris Kyle and Scott McEwen, and on American Wife by Taya Kyle and Jim DeFelice, AS is an in depth portrait of a man who answered his country's call. Jason Hall's screenplay wisely avoids politics and concentrates on the effects war has on soldiers and their families, the sacrifices that are made. Kyle had 160 confirmed kills. He was usually positioned on rooftops to protect his comrades in arms, who were performing the unenviable task of house to house fighting. The film does not whitewash events. The enemy is depicted as formidable, brave and brutal. Kyle's first kill is a pre-teen boy about to toss a grenade. He did four tours in Iraq. In my mind, he's a hero, despite any character flaws. While I've enjoyed a lot of Clint Eastwood's work, I always felt something was missing or wasn't right. American Sniper is his most complete film. While viewing, I recalled that great quote from George Orwell: "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." Amen. Kyle was shot to death by an Iraq veteran, which is mentioned in a footnote at the end of the film, which runs more than two hours. Nearly 300,000 users at IMDb have rated it, forging to a consensus of 7.3 of ten, a number no doubt dragged down by opponents of the war and all wars. The naysayers failed to depress its box office numbers. It took in $350 million in the USA alone on a budget of $58 million. On a scale of five, I rate it 4.5. Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller are outstanding as the Kyles. I supported the war. In hindsight, it can be argued that it was folly, that it contributed greatly to the current state of the Middle East, although it might not have become as bad had America left a sizable force in Iraq, one that might have been able to stop ISIS in its tracks. Did America pull defeat from the jaws of victory as many argue wed did in Vietnam, or was the action misguided from the start? Let the argument rage. Of one thing I am sure, we owe a huge debt to everyone who served, and no one will ever convince me our intentions weren't pure. A popular liberal dictum states: "Do not judge someone until you've walked in his shoes," which, as I interpret it, extends to criminals, even the most vicious. It often seems the left does not include the military or police officers in this belief.
While channel surfing later, I came upon the young Eastwood in the spaghetti western For a Few Dollars More (1967), airing on This-TV. He played a bounty hunter matching wits with another, played by Lee Van Cleef, much like Chris Kyle and his deadly Iraqi sniper counterpart. The body count was higher in the oater, which is not to be taken seriously, unlike American Sniper.
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