Patriot, Unrelenting: Thoughts on American Sniper

Last year, American Sniper did what no other movie about the Iraq war managed to do: it made money. With mostly positive reviews (72% on Metacritic) and enormous box office success ($350+ million in the US alone), the film was nevertheless a lightning rod of controversy. Some decried the story as hero worship, lauding Chris Kyle to near-messiah status; some felt the tone too jingoistic for such a complex situation. (There were other, more extreme opinions, but I'd rather spend time on the points that have at least some degree of merit.)

No matter the criticism - or perhaps even in spite of it - American Sniper became a rallying cry for conservative America. Pundits pointed to the film's financial success and lack of award status (ie, one minor-category Oscar with three major-category shutouts) as some sort of proof of Hollywood's "liberal agenda," or at the very least of being out of touch with the average moviegoer. (Um, duh - they're even out of touch with the artsy movie-goers.) For some reason, it became unacceptable to a huge number of people that a successful, popular, well-reviewed movie not be anointed "the best," even though box office darlings rarely take home Best Picture (or any Oscars, for that matter).

I did not see the movie when it came out. I had interest - I thought the trailer was strong - and I love a good film controversy, but there simply was not enough time/money/resources to see something that seemed most surely to be overrated, when there were so many other worthy films on my "to-watch" list.

So I waited until disc, and now I've finally seen it. And for what it's worth - now that the waters have calmed a bit from last winter - here's what I thought...


American Sniper (dir. Clint Eastwood) - 2/5

Chris Kyle was a super-soldier. With over 160 confirmed kills, two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars, and numerous other medals and distinctions, he was an ideal product of the US military. He was efficient, deadly, dedicated, and (with four tours of duty) unrelenting.

One of the big problems in reviewing any biopic, especially of such a lauded figure, is separating the film from the figure. Biopics try to "peel back the curtain" and show us what the subject was actually like. Some succeed, most (in my opinion) do not and simply become checklists of major accomplishments and setbacks. To its credit, American Sniper avoids the typical biopic pitfall: aside from the occasional caption which denotes which tour he is currently on, there is almost no mention of his prowess as a soldier. I cannot recall a moment when the number of honors and distinctions is mentioned, even at the closing credits, when most movies love to extoll the accomplishments of the subjects which had not been covered in the bodies of the films themselves.

The failing of American Sniper, though, is that while it does not fall into hero-worship (though a case could be made for the closing montage), it unfortunately does not reveal much about Kyle as a human being either. Much of the film is simply a collection of Kyle doing various things: here he is in the rodeo, here he is in combat, here he is at home. This can be a winning tactic in the right kind of movie, but American Sniper is not abstract enough to pull off this kind of technique. The movie lacks a narrative drive - there's nothing connecting these scenes other than the fact that Kyle is in each and every one of them.

The film portrays Kyle as an almost idealistic conservative force. His dedication to his principles is unrelenting, such that any sort of cynical and/or dissenting view is met with profound disbelief, or even threats of violence. This single-minded focus serves him well in his military career, but essentially wrecks every other aspect of his life, though he never admits it and the film barely acknowledges it. Bradley Cooper does an excellent job typifying this behavior, and his eyes show the internal struggle he must be going through... but at the same time, this struggle is only shown in Cooper's gestures and facial expressions. Aside from a recurring, opposing sniper trying to cash in a bounty, Kyle faces virtually zero opposition from anyone else in the film. His wife offers some occasional limp protest or incredulity early on, but is largely reduced to a one-dimensional cluster of doe-eyed support. Even when it's revealed late in the film that Kyle has been out of duty for an unspecified amount of time and has not returned home - has not, indeed, even told his wife he was going to be home, what is her response? I think most wives would be pretty angry, offended, and hurt. This was a man who (at least in the film) was basically an absentee father of two and an essentially uncommunicative husband, and yet she simply tearfully wishes he come home. She never raises her voice, never gets angry, never really addresses the deeper issue - that Kyle clearly feels more at home in a war zone than with his family - and that is the end of the scene. I have to say that it plays pretty well, I just found it hard to believe that's how any real, flesh-and-blood woman would react.

This was my other major issue with American Sniper: I never really "bought" any of it. Did it seem based on true events? Yes. Was it a faithful adaptation of Kyle's life and autobiography? Probably. But it just never quite worked. Clint Eastwood's spare, economic direction vacillates with elements of realism, stylism, formalism, and hyper-realism, but never quite finds the appropriate balance, nor does it commit to any one style wholeheartedly. The battle scenes are somewhat convincing, except when they're not - there's an effective, sadistic standoff involving locals, terrorists, and a powerdrill done in a hyper-realistic style, but then there are stylistic flourishes of unconvincing slow-motion bullets and poorly rendered, video game-quality CGI that only pull you out of the experience. I can understand filming certain scenes in a certain style and other scenes in other styles, but the lack of any unifying vision or tone simply highlights Eastwood's mishandling and misdirection of the material.

There are things to like about the movie, however. Bradley Cooper nails the performance as a fierce, terse Chris Kyle, bringing nuance and shading beyond what is present on the page, or even in the rest of the film for that matter. In a Best Actor field that was cluttered with biographical portrayals, Cooper's version of Chris Kyle was the only performance that went beyond mere imitation and provided a glimpse (frustratingly, only a glimpse) into what it was that defined and drove the man. (As a sidenote: Keaton's fearless, soul-baring performance in Birdman was the best of all the nominees, but Cooper's was a more heartfelt and, ultimately, "real" performance than Redmayne's.) The cinematography, while spare and unimaginative, is nevertheless effective. What sinks American Sniper is, in my opinion, the failure to focus on Chris Kyle's mentality and humanity, instead focusing on his actions; and a severe lack of vision and direction of the material by Eastwood.

There's the potential for a good movie here, even a great one, but the only one who rose to the occasion was Bradley Cooper.

Nothing is Secret

Nothing is Secret: Or, Why You Won't See Many Pictures of My Family Online

It's been some time, dear friends... Other than an obligatory "best of," it's been over a year since last we spoke! So I hope you'll forgive me if my prose is a bit rusty and, well, prosaic...

In the interim, a number of big doings:

(1) I graduated PA school. Proud owner of a shiny, new Master of Science in Physician Assistant Practice.

(2) I passed the Physician Assistant National Certification Exam (PANCE). Quite a relief. My scores didn't earn me any bragging rights, but frankly - I passed, and that's all that matters.

(3) Still searching for a place to call home, so to speak... I'm being considered for a few positions: one in the Chicago area and one in the Seattle area. Major pros and cons to each area, and to each position; the wife and I have some big decisions to make in the near-future.

(4) Biggest news of all... WE HAD A BABY. It's been a while, actually, but I've been so wrapped up in school and other issues that it didn't seem important to blog about it.


That actually brings me to the topic of this entry: privacy.

Obviously, this is a blog, so there's a certain lack of privacy that simply goes with the territory, but it's important to me to keep things kosher at home as well as online.

We hear all the time about how millennials and the younger generations are increasingly interconnected on the Web and yet personally disconnected from the flesh-and-blood creatures around them. My wife and I are deliberately trying to buck this trend.

That's not to say we don't have an online presence - such thinking is simply unrealistic this day and age, unless your Luddite fear and paranoia have sent you to the hills to live in a shack as a hermit. There are facebook accounts, twitter accounts, intagram, this very blog, etc etc ad nauseum. But if you know us at all, you'll see a few common traits among all those entities: the vast majority of entries reveal very little about our personal lives. You'll get opinions, thoughts, quips, (occasional) complaints, and comments, but very little about friends, family, and even each other. And I don't want to speak for her, but for me that's by design.

I love to write. I love to share my thoughts and opinions on myriad topics. But I don't kid myself: over the Internet is no way to know a person. So even if I were to go back to the glory days of this blog and post an entry every day, or even multiple entries a day, you'll get few details about my life. Or my wife's. Or - especially - our child's. All this (sometimes) to the chagrin of extended family, who sometimes (lovingly?) request, in none-too-subtle tones, that we post more pictures online so they can watch the child grow up. Sorry, but no thank you!

It's great to share photos with friends and family. But the idea of sharing photos with an entire online community - for potentially hundreds, thousands, or even millions to see - doesn't work for us.

We keep to ourselves. Except for when we don't. If you do see a baby picture online, enjoy it - they're few and far between. And that's because we'd rather live our lives and enjoy them in reality, not gather more "hits" or "views" (or whatever) online.

Thanks for respecting that. And, of course, for reading!