PREAMBLE: Admittedly, I'm a little late to the American Sniper rodeo...
There is a lot of debate about this film, and many seem to think
criticizing the film is equal to criticizing the soldier it’s about.
It. Is. Not. That said, it’s still a free country, if someone wants
to criticize him, or the movie, they’re allowed.
Ready? And awayyy we go!....
If you want a movie full of clichés, have I got the one for you!
Welcome to American Sniper!
How does the Clint Eastwood/Academy Award-nominated film start? Welp, just like it's supposed to...
Angle on a little boy -- hunting with dad in the woods. The kid gets the kill shot, nails that bitch of a deer! Kills that muthafucker clean!
Not obvious enough for a movie called "American Sniper"? Don't worry, Eastwood and the screenwriter then BANG that nail on the head when dad says, "You've got a gift, son!" Oh geez, seriously? we're going with the "gift" thing?
Later, at school, the kid's li'l brother's getting pounded by a bully. Big brother comes in to take care of it, showing the audience he's a born hero.
OK, so we got the heroic destiny shit. Now we have to have empathy. Better get to it, guys...
We fast-forward to adulthood to see his girlfriend cheating on him. Aww, poor guy. He's so sweet, how the fuck could someone do this to him?!
With his life a shambles -- sorta -- he’s stuck there watching TV with his buddy, depressed about the girlfriend who cheated, so he sits back to watch the local news. Because, you know, he seems just like the kind of guy who’d sit back to relax with the news...rather than, say, some NASCAR or World’s Stupidest Stunts hosted by Dean Cain.
And it happens. He sees a story on the news about an attack overseas. Some of our men died, and he’s gonna do something about it -- our ass-kickin' hero!
Training to be a Navy SEAL, he’s at a bar one night some weeks later. He’s not the sleazy drunk guy who flirts with the gal who’s not interested (of course not, he's a hero!); he’s the nice guy who supports that gal in her decision to turn down the sleaze and then sweet-talks her into a drinking game and some harmless flirting. He’s so damn nice, he even holds her hair when she barfs over the railing from drinking too much.
And then the hero sees his last straw... 9/11. After 9/11, you could see it, he’s not just gonna go fight for his team, team U.S.A., he's gonna be the biggest-dicked super-hero to ever ride into the Middle East.
The point to all of this is of course that we’re going to see him fall apart later. That we’re gonna see Mr. Perfect get torn apart by his experiences overseas. But Clint Eastwood and writer Jason Hall have clearly decided to tell what is a real story — somewhere in there, buried deep under all the pathetic manipulation — by starting with every ridiculous movie cliché.
Every. Single. One.
See, there’s a problem in telling it like a Spielbergian fantasy filled with clichés. The examples above are just the start; the list goes on (throughout the film): cute convo w/the “preggers” wife while overseas; little brother deployed, so Perfect has to worry about him; the tough choice about whether or not to kill a young child; Wife to Perfect: "When you're here...you're not really here." (Yes, that's an actual line...from 48 movies). Things you’ve seen in every single movie about war in the last 20-30 years. Doing this, filling it with every ridonkulous cliché, makes it have less weight, less meaning, less of everything. It’s a disservice to the lives of all these guys.
To the life of this soldier-guy specifically.
THE ABOVE PRE-DEATH SCENE FROM HOT SHOTS IS
ALSO IN AMERICAN SNIPER (NOT KIDDING!)
To Dirty Harry's credit, it does fall short of being propaganda (but not by much). Mostly, it’s just shitty filmmaking.
"But, hey, dude, it’s a Clint Fucking Eastwood film! It’s based on a real person’s life! This guy the movie's about, he fought for our country, and (spoiler [if you live under a rock]) he died in a senseless, unnecessary accident. His book was a New York Times best seller for crike’s sake!"
So drink the Kool-Aid. And love the movie, because you’re supposed to.
Oh, and I take it back: It should win something at some point: Bradley Cooper earned that Best Actor nod. He was incredible. (However, I’m secretly hoping for a surprise upset win by Ralph Fiennes [not nominated and totally robbed].) The movie itself? Garbage.
-30-
Video Source: SaveMeFromBoredom.com; © 20th Century Fox
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