Chris Kyle’s memoirs come to life on the big screen
By David Josselyn
Director Clint Eastwood (Jersey Boys, Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven) set his sights on Chris Kyle’s story, but it was Bradley Cooper’s (American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, The Hangover) intense focus on the story that pulled the trigger to make American Sniper a big-screen movie. American Sniper is an adaptation of Kyle’s autobiographic memoirs of the same title and tells Kyle’s story from his enlistment in the Navy to his post-military life with exposition sequences revealing his motivation for his actions. Eastwood maintains focus on the effect Kyle’s job and decisions have on his personality and mental stability. Kyle trains to be a sniper for the Navy Seals and works four tours of duty in the Middle East. During the first tour, Kyle’s precision and quantity of kill shots create a legend and his name is quickly known among the troops. Kyle chooses to return three more times to help protect the troops and to finish the job, but throughout, Kyle’s mental stability begins to erode and it is during the fourth tour that he breaks down and wants to come home permanently. Kyle had met and married his wife, Taya, before his first tour. The repeated tours and infrequent time home put a strain on their relationship that took a whole lot of patience, understanding, and forgiveness to get past. The movie completes Kyle’s journey back to healthy wholeness allowing him to help other veterans during his post-military life.
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