{"id":1652,"date":"2015-01-25T03:58:03","date_gmt":"2015-01-25T03:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bryanbuser.com\/365moviesbyday\/?p=1652"},"modified":"2022-08-10T21:42:42","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T21:42:42","slug":"american-sniper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/365moviesbyday.bryanbuser.com\/american-sniper\/","title":{"rendered":"American Sniper (2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a year\u00a0that hasn’t had that many must-see movies,\u00a0American Sniper<\/em>\u00a0has 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<\/a>,\u00a0Unbroken<\/a>, Mr. Turner, Snowpiercer, Godzilla,\u00a0<\/em>even\u00a0Boyhood<\/em><\/a>\u00a0to an extent), some films did manage to live up to their expectations (Foxcatcher<\/em>,<\/a>\u00a0The Theory of Everything<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0The Imitation Game<\/em><\/a>). In addition, some movies exceeded my hopes for them (The Drop<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Nightcrawler<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0Kill the Messenger<\/em><\/a>, and the surprise, feel-good movie of the year,\u00a0Chef<\/a><\/em>). But the film that had the most pressure on its shoulders to perform was\u00a0American Sniper<\/em>, the final released movie of the year. And while the movie\u00a0did 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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"americanThe first is that, in my opinion,\u00a0American Sniper<\/em>\u00a0had 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 –\u00a0Silver Linings Playbook<\/a>,\u00a0Limitless<\/a><\/em>) perched up on top of a roof, scoping out the path of a US military convoy in Iraq. And then a\u00a0woman comes out with a\u00a0grenade, forcing him to make the difficult\u00a0decision 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\u00a0trailer 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\u00a0raging 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 –\u00a0Foxcatcher<\/a>, A Case of You<\/em>). 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.<\/p>\n

My second observation is that director Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Mystic River<\/em>) 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\u00a0J. Edgar, Hereafter, Invictus,<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Changeling<\/em>. Perhaps these wouldn’t have been so disappointing if he hadn’t\u00a0knocked it out of the park with movies like\u00a0Flags of Our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima, Million Dollar Baby<\/em>, and\u00a0Mystic River<\/em>. 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<\/em>,<\/em><\/a>\u00a0The Theory of Everything<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Whiplash<\/i><\/a>\u00a0<\/a>this year.<\/p>\n

I am delighted that Bradley Cooper received a nomination for a Best Actor Academy Award. While\u00a0David Oyelowo (Selma<\/em><\/a>) and\u00a0Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler<\/em><\/a>) indeed were also deserving, I think the Academy got it right (outside of Michael Keaton for\u00a0Birdman<\/a><\/em>, 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 –\u00a0The Imitation Game<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0Eddie Redmayne –\u00a0The Theory of Everything<\/em><\/a>, Steve Carell –\u00a0Foxcatcher<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>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.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0when 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\u00a0Lone Survivor<\/em><\/a>\u00a0meets\u00a0The Hurt Locker<\/em><\/a>? 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.<\/p>\n

Miller was robbed of a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. Instead, the nods went to more established actresses (Patricia Arquette –\u00a0Boyhood<\/em><\/a>, Laura Dern –\u00a0Wild<\/a><\/em>, Keira Knightley –\u00a0The Imitation Game<\/em><\/a>, Emma Stone –\u00a0Birdman<\/em><\/a>, and Meryl Streep –\u00a0Into the Woods<\/em>). The only one of these movies I haven’t seen is\u00a0Into the Wood<\/i>s, 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\u00a0Boyhood<\/em><\/a>\u00a0was her crowning achievement (though if you haven’t seen her as Alabama Whitman in the incredible\u00a0True Romance<\/em>, I suggest you do so just as quickly as you can). But back to Miller…she got snubbed. The performances of Knightley\u00a0and Stone were incomparable to Miller’s, and the inclusion of Dern in this category is downright laughable.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Clint Eastwood has yet again proved that age is just a number. What he did in 2003 (Mystic River<\/em>), 2004 (Million Dollar Baby<\/em>), and 2005 (Letters From Iwo Jima<\/em>) was incredible. This three-year run gave him three Best Director nominations and one win (Million Dollar Baby<\/em>). And he did all of this\u00a0in his mid 70’s. To deliver this knockout of a movie in\u00a0American Sniper<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

Plot 10\/10
\nCharacter 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)
\nCharacter Chemistry 10\/10 (though not on screen together a ton, Cooper and Miller dazzle)
\nActing 10\/10 (Cooper gives a top-five overall performance of the year, and Miller was most deserving of a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award)
\nScreenplay 10\/10
\nDirecting 10\/10 (Clint Eastwood, I doubted you would be able to return to your early 2000s form. Thank you for proving me wrong)
\nCinematography 10\/10
\nSound 10\/10
\nHook 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)
\nUniversal Relevance 10\/10 (the story of America’s most lethal sniper is a story that I think should be told)
\n100%<\/p>\n

By far,\u00a0American Sniper<\/em>\u00a0is the best movie of the year.<\/p>\n

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