Film No. 6 (2015) January 27th. 03.20 PM MILLENNIUM Fremantle.
The Quote: "My regrets are about the people I couldn't save - marines, soldiers, my buddies. I still feel their loss. I still ache for my failure to protect them."
American Sniper
Chris Kyle became a legend, firstly among his fellow Navy Seals, then nation wide, as the most lethal sniper to have ever enlisted in the US military with 160 confirmed kills. It's fitting that a film version of a part of his life should be told by one of cinema's greatest heroes, Clint Eastwood. It is alleged that Kyle's father Wayne, told Eastwood that "disrespect my son and I'll hunt you down." It sounds like the sort of challenge Clint would revel in.
I was excited about the subject matter when I heard Eastwood was directing this bio pic. He often builds a very human portrait showing the subjects frailties and complexities when given the task. Grand Torino had a real human element to the story. The same can't be said for Sniper unfortunately. The reason being, Eastwood spends too much time shooting chaotic battles which makes it feel more like we are gamers than movie goers.
We meet Kyle who is a selfassured Texan cowboy. He is a determined soul who has to be the best at what he does. Via flashbacks depicting Kyle's childhood it is evident he had a skill for shooting straight. Motivated to join The Seals because of the mounting terrorist treats and his patriotic conscience, Kyle leads us through a series of cliched training regimes before meeting the girl (Sienna Miller, his future wife) in a crowded bar.
Kyle is a legend. The film does him proud for his fearlessness in an enduring, hot and uncomfortable war. He's a likeable bear of a man and the chemistry between Cooper and Miller is believable but the closing shots depicting family life beyond the days of protecting his buddies don't do this human story justice. It's this phase leading to the final stark captions appearing on the black screen which really could have been explored more. I dearly wanted the newsreel footage, as the titles rolled, to have had a more profound impact. 8GUMS
Chris Kyle became a legend, firstly among his fellow Navy Seals, then nation wide, as the most lethal sniper to have ever enlisted in the US military with 160 confirmed kills. It's fitting that a film version of a part of his life should be told by one of cinema's greatest heroes, Clint Eastwood. It is alleged that Kyle's father Wayne, told Eastwood that "disrespect my son and I'll hunt you down." It sounds like the sort of challenge Clint would revel in.
I was excited about the subject matter when I heard Eastwood was directing this bio pic. He often builds a very human portrait showing the subjects frailties and complexities when given the task. Grand Torino had a real human element to the story. The same can't be said for Sniper unfortunately. The reason being, Eastwood spends too much time shooting chaotic battles which makes it feel more like we are gamers than movie goers.
We meet Kyle who is a selfassured Texan cowboy. He is a determined soul who has to be the best at what he does. Via flashbacks depicting Kyle's childhood it is evident he had a skill for shooting straight. Motivated to join The Seals because of the mounting terrorist treats and his patriotic conscience, Kyle leads us through a series of cliched training regimes before meeting the girl (Sienna Miller, his future wife) in a crowded bar.
Kyle is a legend. The film does him proud for his fearlessness in an enduring, hot and uncomfortable war. He's a likeable bear of a man and the chemistry between Cooper and Miller is believable but the closing shots depicting family life beyond the days of protecting his buddies don't do this human story justice. It's this phase leading to the final stark captions appearing on the black screen which really could have been explored more. I dearly wanted the newsreel footage, as the titles rolled, to have had a more profound impact. 8GUMS
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