In a year that hasn’t had that many must-see movies, American Sniper has proved that there is at least one reason to head out to the theaters. 2014 has been the most disappointing year overall for movies since 2008. Yet despite its horrendous start and some incredibly overrated movies (Birdman, Unbroken, Mr. Turner, Snowpiercer, Godzilla, even Boyhood to an extent), some films did manage to live up to their expectations (Foxcatcher, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game). In addition, some movies exceeded my hopes for them (The Drop, Nightcrawler, Kill the Messenger, and the surprise, feel-good movie of the year, Chef). But the film that had the most pressure on its shoulders to perform was American Sniper, the final released movie of the year. And while the movie did not exceed my expectations, it certainly met them in every single way. So before I review the film, I want to refer to a couple of observations.

The first is that, in my opinion, American Sniper had the most fantastic series of trailers in the history of movies. That is a massive statement to make, but I firmly believe it. The first teaser showed Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook, Limitless) perched up on top of a roof, scoping out the path of a US military convoy in Iraq. And then a woman comes out with a grenade, forcing him to make the difficult decision of whether or not to gun her down. And then, she hands the weapon to a little boy, and Kyle’s difficult decision instantly becomes impossible. And then, we are presented with flashbacks that show Kyle falling in love, getting married, and having a baby, all while the background music becomes increasingly intense. I’ve seen this particular trailer over 25 times and still get goosebumps whenever I see it. This was just the first of four trailers, released consecutively about every two weeks, that provided more insight into the story, its lead character, and the internal and external battles raging within him. The kicker is the fourth trailer, showing Kyle sitting alone at a bar. He is on the phone with his wife, Taya (Sienna Miller – Foxcatcher, A Case of You). She is upbeat and happy to hear from him. He seems relieved to hear her voice, but he is anything but joyous. When she asks him where he is, thinking he might be in Germany, he tells her he is back in the United States. And instantly, she wonders why he is not back with her and the kids. The despair showed on Cooper’s face as he says, “I guess I just needed a minute,” is like nothing you’ve seen in a trailer before. We know the trauma this character is going through merely through the series of well-crafted trailers. It is truly amazing.

My second observation is that director Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Mystic River) needed a big-time hit. He’s had some big misses recently with some movies that had failed to meet their lofty expectations. The most notable of these are J. Edgar, Hereafter, Invictus, and Changeling. Perhaps these wouldn’t have been so disappointing if he hadn’t knocked it out of the park with movies like Flags of Our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima, Million Dollar Baby, and Mystic River. It had been eight years since his last killer movie, and many, including myself, thought that maybe he had forever lost his touch. What a way to tell the public, “Not so fast!”. I believe he did deserve a Best Director Academy Award for this movie. I realize there are only five of those slots, but seeing a film nominated for Best Picture and having its director not receive the same nomination is tough. The same happened with Selma, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash this year.

I am delighted that Bradley Cooper received a nomination for a Best Actor Academy Award. While David Oyelowo (Selma) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) indeed were also deserving, I think the Academy got it right (outside of Michael Keaton for Birdman, but that is something that I have discussed numerous times on my blog…I have no idea how he earned a nod, let alone how he is currently the favorite heading into the awards). Four of the five actors nominated for Best Actor played real-life characters. The one who did not portray a real-life character was Keaton, who played himself. The other four performances (Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game, Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything, Steve Carell – Foxcatcher, and Cooper) are all Oscar-worthy. It’s difficult for me to distinguish between these four performances because they were all so good. I believe these were the four best performances of the year, followed closely by Oyelowo and Gyllenhaal. I will be thrilled if any of these four can defeat Keaton on the night of the awards.

So quickly about the story. We go through Kyle’s four tours in Iraq. We see him when he is young. We see his motives for becoming a Navy SEAL and serving his country. We see his overseas struggles and the problems acclimating to society when he returns to the mainland. He is a family man rooted in his faith and committed to defending his country. But how can anyone prepare for the atrocities of war? That was what this movie comes down to. There is plenty of drama, but it’s not short on action either. Is it Lone Survivor meets The Hurt Locker? Kind of/sort of? It has many elements of those movies, but this movie stands on its own. It is too early for me to rank these movies against one another, and I don’t even know if that is something I want to do. But, all three serve a special place in my heart.

Miller was robbed of a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. Instead, the nods went to more established actresses (Patricia Arquette – Boyhood, Laura Dern – Wild, Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game, Emma Stone – Birdman, and Meryl Streep – Into the Woods). The only one of these movies I haven’t seen is Into the Woods, and the single performance better than Miller’s was Arquette’s. Arquette is a lock to win this award, which makes me happy. Her performance was head and shoulders better than the other nominees. I will be glad when the Academy recognizes her with a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. She has had a fantastic career, and Boyhood was her crowning achievement (though if you haven’t seen her as Alabama Whitman in the incredible True Romance, I suggest you do so just as quickly as you can). But back to Miller…she got snubbed. The performances of Knightley and Stone were incomparable to Miller’s, and the inclusion of Dern in this category is downright laughable.

Miller was fantastic as Kyle’s torn wife, doing her best to outwardly support her husband while internally going through the normal reactions any wife/husband would go through when their spouse is in a place where they are surrounded by danger 24 hours a day/7 days a week. In the middle of the movie, Kaya tells Kyle that she found out the child they are having will be a boy. Suddenly there is an explosion, and he loses the phone. The phone connection doesn’t go out, but Kyle has dropped the phone. Kaya’s emotions overwhelm her when she hears gunfire, explosions, and yelling. She yells for him into the phone, imagining the worst has happened to him. Her performance here is almost worth the price of admission alone.

Clint Eastwood has yet again proved that age is just a number. What he did in 2003 (Mystic River), 2004 (Million Dollar Baby), and 2005 (Letters From Iwo Jima) was incredible. This three-year run gave him three Best Director nominations and one win (Million Dollar Baby). And he did all of this in his mid 70’s. To deliver this knockout of a movie in American Sniper at the age of 84 is awe-inspiring. He is dedicated to his craft and has reinvented himself over and over and over throughout his career. He has been a far more successful Robert Redford, and I don’t mean to take anything from Redford here. However, Eastwood’s acting and directorial performances seem to have a little more than Redford’s.

Plot 10/10
Character Development 10/10 (Cooper’s development of Chris Kyle as a carefree rodeo rider/failed farmer to a man who is as proud to serve his country as any man who has ever put on the uniform to a man who is so distraught that he struggles with his decisions to return home to his family after his tours are over)
Character Chemistry 10/10 (though not on screen together a ton, Cooper and Miller dazzle)
Acting 10/10 (Cooper gives a top-five overall performance of the year, and Miller was most deserving of a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award)
Screenplay 10/10
Directing 10/10 (Clint Eastwood, I doubted you would be able to return to your early 2000s form. Thank you for proving me wrong)
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 10/10
Hook and Reel 10/10 (I can’t think of a movie in recent memory that gets you so involved so quickly…I hope Eastwood has many years left in his career)
Universal Relevance 10/10 (the story of America’s most lethal sniper is a story that I think should be told)
100%

By far, American Sniper is the best movie of the year.

Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie

• Saving Private Ryan
• Black Hawk Down
• Hacksaw Ridge
• The Hurt Locker
• Enemy at the Gates