Movie Review: "American Sniper"

American Sniper

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller

Rated: R for strong disturbing war violence, and language throughout including some sexual references. 

Bradley Cooper's passion project American Sniper is soon set to be the highest grossing war movie of all time.  Since the book's release, it has been surrounded by intrigue, conflict, and controversy.  Several different directors, from David O. Russell to Steven Spielberg, were set to direct the film before finally landing with Clint Eastwood.  There were a variety of issues, from Chris Kyle's death to lawsuits against the book, that took place during the film's production.  Upon it's released, the buzz has been huge, the turnout was overwhelming, and the film wound up nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture.  However, when you watch the film, it's hard to understand what all the hype and controversy is about. 

It's not that Sniper is a bad film, just one that doesn't really stand out and say much.  It doesn't have the drive or dignity of war that last year's film Lone Survivor had, nor does it have the voice of caution of the Oscar winning film The Hurt Locker.  It has very little to say about the issues facing post-war veterans (though it spends some time showing them) and almost nothing about the politics of it's story, leading me to wonder if it's the same film that everyone is talking about.  What I saw was a movie chronicling Kyle's tours of action and then problems upon returning home.  The scenes move at such a quick pace that they sometimes feel more like montages than scenes.  You are brushed along from this segment of Kyle's life to the next which, after you've seen the first thirty minutes (his first full tour), you've pretty much have experienced the entire film.  The only overarching story is Kyle's quest to kill a one-dimensional enemy sniper who is so stereotypical that he actually ties a Rambo-like skull cap around his head at one point.  And don't even get me started about the baby doll used at one point in the movie.

The redemption of American Sniper is Bradley Cooper; you can tell he believed in the story, and his performance not only brings it to life, but makes you actually care about the man, himself.  He's completely engrossing, maybe more so than any other protagonist has been in a war film.  He gained 40 pounds to play Kyle, and his uncompromising performance to depict him, warts and all, is captivating.  When the credits rolled silently with the actual footage playing from Kyle's funeral, there were very few dry eyes in the theater.  However, I'm not sure it was because of the power of the movie, or just the respect that we have for service men and women and their families, who have given up so much for our country.  

 

Movie Review: Boyhood

Boyhood

Directed by: Richard Linklater

Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke

Rated: R for language including sexual references, and for teen drug and alcohol use

The 2014 film Boyhood is one of the great achievements in filmmaking. Since 2002, director Richard Linklater has been filming his fictional family (Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater) every year, to make a coming of age film of epic proportions; you literally see his cast age and grow up in front of you, from a six year old boy to a high school graduate.  It's a huge undertaking, both technically and cognitively.  Yet, somehow, Linklater not only weaves the years of the story together, but also a consistent and interesting theme throughout. 

While the movie has a pretty relaxed pace that requires some stilted dialogue to progress the story, it still has a strong voice about life and growing up.  In one of the opening scenes, Mason sees his mother confess to a soon-to-be ex-boyfriend that being a mother was not the life she longed for; she wants to be free, to do things for herself. From that point on, we see Mason constantly trying to find freedom and control from people or situations throughout his life, whether it's when his drunken stepfather cuts his hair without his permission, or when a group of high school boys who berate him with a false standard of masculinity, or when his teachers or bosses see a different future for Mason that he doesn't want.  In the end, however, Mason learns that the point of your life isn't about trying to control the flow of time, but simply to watch how it shapes us and embrace whatever freedom we are given within it.  Or, as the film beautifully says it, it's not about seizing the moments but letting the moments seize you. 

Movie Review: "Unbroken"

Unbroken

Directed by: Angelina Jolie

Starring: Jack O'Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Garret Hedlund, Jai Courtney

Rated: PG-13 for war violence including intense sequences of brutality, and for brief language

Ever since I read Zamperini’s autobiography back in the early 2000s (I first heard his story back in 1998), I’ve dreamed of making his story into a film.  Over the years, I’ve done imaginary castings of the film, and, while in college, I even started (never finished) several drafts of the screenplay.  Thanks to Laura Hildenbrand’s book Unbroken, Zamperini’s story returned to the spotlight, and within a few years of it’s release, Angelina Jolie had turned the film into a highly anticipated motion picture.

On paper and on screen, Unbroken is good movie; newcomer Jack O’Connell is terrific, as is Garret Hedlund and Domhnall Gleeson.  Roger Deakin’s cinematography is, once again, beautiful, and Alexandre Desplat’s minimalist score also worked.  Jolie struggled a bit with the tone of the movie, having it come across too much like an inspirational Disney film, and it didn’t help that the screenplay (partially written by the Coen brothers) and editing was a bit sloppy at moments.  However, my biggest issue with the film was not in the components; it’s still a good film and the depictions were really spot on, yet something was missing; it’s the emotional core of Hildenbrand’s book and Louie’s story.

Many people have had incredible survival stories, like Dieter Dengler in Rescue Dawn or Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist.  Survival stories are cinematic, but often can’t find the emotional connection to the audience.  Many critics are rightful saying the same about Unbroken; that it’s nothing more than two hours of Zamperini surviving brutality.  While interesting, it’s not a moving experience.  The reason Zamperini’s story and Hildenbrand’s book worked so well is because, after all that he went through, he came back and forgave those people who mistreated him.  This is the emotional center of the story.  This is what truly mystifies us.  We are moved because we go through far less and yet still hold on to our hate, only to be mesmerized that Zamperini hugged his former guards and told them he loved them.  The forgiveness that he and his guards experienced is what inspires us to live better each day.  This is why he went through what he went through.  This was the message of his story.

Some Christians are attacking the film for cutting out his post-war life, claiming Hollywood tried to cut out his Christianity.  I completely disagree; there is a lot about faith and God in the film.  And, to be fair, this is a difficult story to tell.  They cut out a lot of the story, beyond just his conversion: there was no Cynthia, or James Sasaki, or his meeting with Adolph Hitler.  Jolie and crew focused on Louie’s survival, which is the visually interesting part of his story.  If that is the full story, then it must end where it did.  If it were to focus on his forgiveness, than far more attention would have to go to post-war, and some of the details of pre-war and his time as a POW would have to fall by the wayside, and the entire tone and pace of the movie would be different.  It’s all in what the story is about; survival or forgiveness?

I’ve thought a lot about Louie’s story.  (Probably too much.)  And even some of what Louie went through has lost it’s affect on me over the years.  But, to this day, I still feel emotional when I hear Louie, in his letter to The Bird, tell him that “love replaced the hate that I had for you.”  This is what is inspirational about Zamperini and, unfortunately, that was the message the movie was lacking.