Eastwood has righteously done it, again. Only a meager four months between this and Jersey Boys (a movie I rather enjoyed), at 84 years old, the man has released what is sure to be another bonafide sensation. The film American Sniper, which has just earned six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (sure to drive its box office prospects), is a gritty, raw and jampacked war tundra that balances in-depth emotion with the career-defining performance by Bradley Cooper, playing the American patriot, Chris Kyle.

This film is both a tribute and lament of war (based on the memoir by Kyle himself). Not getting too political on the front side, the film instead focuses clearly on Kyle (Cooper), his family, and the four tours he served in which he accumulated 160 confirmed kills and over 250 probable kills, making him, as the tagline suggests, “the most lethal sniper in US history.”

—Boy, they’re not kidding.

Bradley Cooper is a revelation giving, without question, the most authentic performance of the last year (and wholeheartedly earns his Oscar nom). He put on over sixty pounds of muscle, carries his southern drawl with crisp and clear diction, and gives you the true face of a man who has seen far too much, one of the best characterizations ever. Kyle is a chew-spitting, beer-drinking Texas cowboy who enlists after the terrible 1998 bombing of the US embassies. The once-lost Kyle finds his true calling in the Navy and heads to Iraq with a moral certainty that no amount of time can shake, leaving behind the love of his life, Taya (played equally as resounding by Sienna Miller).

There are many cuts that happen between Kyle being away from his family, and in a way, the film serves as different shots between each of his tours. It seems that each passing trip takes more of an account on Kyle. The scene you have likely seen in the trailer, in which he contemplates shooting a child holding a grenade, doesn’t even touch the base of the intensity in which the film embodies.

The film is far better shot than Lone Survivor and far more exciting and paced than Zero Dark Thirty. Eastwood doesn’t seem to have trouble outdoing himself (if only he, too, could have snagged a much deserved nomination). The film does rely heavily on some of the ballistic methods of telling a story, and the firefights are heightened (and don’t shy away from brutality). However, it’s Eastwood’s rendition on the accounts of a questionable war and Cooper stealing every frame that is jaw-dropping. Watching the film through the scope of a sniper rifle is trifling—not knowing what decision is going to made. It’s painful and cringeworthy, but equally as exciting. This is the way you feel the entire film, and I loved every second. Grade: A

Directed By Clint Eastwood

Rated: R

Runtime: 134 mins

Release Date: December 25th (limited), January 16th (Wide)

Studio: Warner Bros.

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