It's was difficult for me to walk into director Clint Eastwood's latest film, American Sniper, and not have the controversy it has inspired embed preconceived notions in my head. Progressives criticize the movie as jingoistic propaganda, glorifying the misadventure that was the Second Gulf War, and militarism in general. Conservatives counter that such criticism is rooted in the liberal Hollywood establishment's hatred of the military and, by extension, patriotism. I do believe that some of the left wing backlash against this wildly popular film has to do with Eastwood's President Obama mocking "empty chair" routine from the 2012 Republican Convention. And this is not the first time Ol' Clint has been caught in this type of political crossfire. Over forty years ago Dirty Harry, in which he played the iconic title role, was accused of promoting fascist sensibilities. After watching American Sniper for myself, I think both liberals and conservatives have the movie wrong. While the ending coda does wrap itself in the flag, most of this film shows the effects of war, and it's demand to be a human killing machine, on on the people who participate in it, and their families at home. Far from being a recruitment tool, this is a hard look at the hell that is combat and it's consequences.
American Sniper follows the story of the late Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), a would be Texas cowboy who joins the Navy SEALS after the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. Early in life he's taught by his strict father to neither be a submissive sheep nor a predatory wolf, but rather a protective sheep dog. This protector instinct serves him as he becomes, during four tours in Iraq, the most lethal sniper in American history.
In real life, during interviews, Kyle never wavered in the belief that he had done his patriotic duty, and his only regret was not protecting more American and allied lives. But in the film, based on his autobiography and made with the cooperation of his widow Taya Renae Kyle (played here by Sienna Miller), we see a man more conflicted. His words constantly speak to duty, honor, God, country and family. But after his first taste of killing, which involves a harrowing choice, he angrily snaps at his observer for an enthusiastic congratulation, belying a deep seated understanding of the ugly, if in his mind necessary, assignment he is on.
The internal conflict Kyle experiences, along with a certain disconnect he has with those around him who are not quite as convinced of the correctness of the mission as he is is the real story of the film. At one point the mother of a close friend who is killed in combat reads a letter from her son expressing his disillusion with the Iraq War during the fallen soldier's funeral. When Taya questions Chris on the ride home about the letter, he says, in essence, that it was his comrade's lack of faith in the mission that killed him as much as the enemy bullet. She looks at him like she can't believe that Kyle actually believes that. While he insists that he is the same man, and that war has not effected him, his time between tours shows him to be edgy, hyper sensitive to his surroundings and at times withdrawn.
Once State side for good Kyle totally misreads a situation at a child's birthday party, resulting in an embarrassing overreaction. He goes to visit a VA psychologist, who informs him that he's been credited with over 160 kills in roughly 1,000 days of deployment in Iraq. Still not acknowledging that these things have had any effect on him, the therapist brings him to the floor dedicated to the men maimed by battle. Eastwood uses actual veterans in these scenes, showing the real life results of IED's and roadside bombs. This begins Kyle's work, giving assistance to his fellow veteran who returned with external scars to go along with the internal ones both bear.
In many ways it's too bad that American Sniper was made as a biopic. Much has come out since the film's release questioning it's accuracy, especially as it relates to the real Chris Kyle's integrity and honesty. I'll put aside the whole debate over whether snipers are hero's or cowards: they're a standard part of military strategy used by all sides since people figured out how to use gun powder to propel a bullet. They're no more cowardly then members of an artillery unit or a missile operator. But the film does portray our hero as exactly that; other than being a bit clueless at times, he possesses all the noble qualities one would want in a soldier and a son; while I never found the movie to be a rah rah affair, there is a sense of patriotic hagiography in the treatment of the Kyle character. If they took things a step farther and made it a straight fictional account I think the very clear, cautionary aspects of the story would come out in greater relief, and people wouldn't be engaged in the besides the point debate over the real Chris Kyle's legacy.
I walked away from American Sniper grateful to the men and women who serve and for the sacrifices they and their families make, much like I did after seeing Saving Private Ryan. But, like in that earlier film, I also saw a picture of war and it's aftermath on minds and bodies that brought home that war is a tragedy of epic proportions for all involved. Whether the cause is just or not, once the dogs of war are loosed confusion reigns and even good men find themselves doing despicable things, if only to survive the experience.
My suggestion is that in seeing American Sniper, put out of your mind that this purports to be a "true story." It is better seen as a personality study rather than a biography. I found that Eastwood's adaptation is balanced, nuanced and penetrating, in that it tells you what Kyle thought, but doesn't take for granted that he's right, or that he even necessary believes himself. No, it doesn't get into the politics deeply (I don't think that George Bush's name is mentioned once), and I'm sure that its lack of an out and out condemnation of the war is what rankles some progressive critics. But I think only the most obtuse on both sides will think that this film glorifies war or the Iraqi conflict.
