I first remember seeing Bradley Cooper as a secondary actor, playing the annoying brother in the Vince Vaughan comedy 'classic' The Wedding Crashers'. Since then he's progressed considerably onto bigger and better things. From the Hangover trilogy (don't watch the second and third films, you'll lose IQ points if you do) to The A-Team. Mr Cooper can seem to do no wrong. Limitless and American Hustle also showed that he was capable of portraying a wide and diverse range of characters. However it wasn't till The Silver Linings playbook that his application to join the 'A-list' elite had been completed. Playing Pat, a teacher with mental health issues, trying to reconcile with his ex-wife. He put in a damaged and vulnerable performance that earned him his first Oscar nomination.
With American Sniper Cooper portrays a real Navy Seal sniper called Chris Kyle. A man who has the highest confirmed kill rate in American military history. At over one hundred and sixty he Kyle earned himself two unique and equally different nicknames. 'Legend' by his comrades and 'The Devil' by the Iraqi insurgents.
Kyle was very much a man without a purpose during his teenage years and his twenties. Moving from one meaningless relationship to another and being from Texas his highest aspiration was to become a cowboy and a rodeo rider. It wasn't until the 9/11 attacks in two thousand and one that he felt the urge to help defend his country and basically contribute to the fight of good against evil. Kyle enlists as a Navy Seal at the age of thirty, which is practically unheard of and finds he has a talent with firearms. Sniper rifles to be more specific.
His first tour of duty starts three days after he gets married. Hi wife Taya, played by Sienna Miller, is reluctant to even talk to him when they first meet in a bar. Taya's sister having had problems being engaged to a sailor and it not ending well. Kyle is almost guilty by association and tarred with the same brush. He does however slowly win her over and with the help of holding her hair back whilst she's being sick Taya begins to see him for more than just muscle & uniform and as quite a compassionate and vulnerable man.
Kyle’s first kill is quite harrowing. For those of you who have watched the trailer and seem him looking through his scope at an Iraqi mother and son as a military convoy pulls ever closer towards them all I will say is this. Yes he does and yes he has to.
Kyle's belief system is very black and white. The Americans are good and Iraq's military and street fighting militia are evil and need to be stopped at all costs. This is why Kyle ends up going back to Iraq a further three times. You get the impression that it's because he believes the job is not yet complete and he's incapable of leaving loose ends. Each tour of duty he embarks on leaves his wife emotionally in no man’s land. Never knowing if he'll return or what will be left oh her husband mentally if and when he does. The fact that he does survive four tours physically is extraordinary however every time he comes home he finds it harder to reintegrate into what most people would describe as a normal family life. During his forth tour Kyle finally manages to take out a Syrian sniper who he's had to deal with since his first deployment. This victory comes with a cost though. During a rooftop escape Kyle and the team he is with come under heavy fire and he gets shot in the leg. This is effectively the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Bradley Cooper has just picked up his second Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Chris Kyle and it’s not too difficult to work out why. He trained with Chris Kyle’s marine colleagues, spent months bulking up so he would physically match Kyles size and frame and spent time with a dialect coach so he’d sound like Kyle too. The cumulative result of this time and effort is a transformation that is almost indistinguishable from the real man himself.
The tragedy of American Sniper comes in its closing moments. Having completed four tours of duty and in a bid to reclaim back his humanity Kyle, once he’s retired from the armed forces, agrees to help other Marines with posttraumatic stress disorder. This is as much therapy for himself as it for the others he helps. Unfortunately on February the second 2013, whilst at a firing range he is shot in the back and killed by another Marine. Whether you agree with the war and the Americans involvement in it, Chris Kyle’s funeral procession was over two hundred miles long and was lined by well-wishers for its entire length. The funeral itself had so many people wanting to attend it had to be held in the Dallas Cowboys football Stadium. The closing credits actually use news footage that was broadcast on the day and it does make for difficult viewing given the film you’ve just seen and the sacrifices that you’ve observed Kyle making for hi country.
Clint Eastwood has been on a bit of a production marathon recently. His output of films has left even the most of prolific film makers in his wake. In the last eight years alone he has directed nine films. That's the same quantity as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Peter Jackson combined over the same time period. I do start to wonder if at the age of eighty four Eastwood has realised that the clock is ticking and there's only so much time left available to tell the stories he wants to. According to IMBD he's already in production to direct a remake of A Star is Born. Where he gets his energy from is unknown but for someone who is currently twice my age it's remarkable.
It’s unlikely that Cooper will win this year’s best actor Oscar due to his competition being incredibly strong. Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne, Steve Carell and Michael Keaton are far safer bets but given that the film itself has just opened with a ninety million dollar weekend I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it walked away with best film on February the 22nd.
Twitter Review:
Fiercely patriotic and it doesn't apologise for being so. A story of a simple man with a simple set of values.
#BestInTheWorldAtWhatHeDid
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2179136/?ref_=nv_sr_1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99k3u9ay1gs
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=138645
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRE21DY1pjo
No comments:
Post a Comment