Dustin: 4.5 of 5 stars Nick: 3.5 of 5 stars Average: 4 of 5 stars (Live canary)
Dustin: 'Murican Sniper is the “true story” of the “most lethal sniper in U.S. military history,” Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. Bulked-up Bradley Cooper plays Kyle as he goes from a riding bulls as a rodeo cowboy through Navy SEAL boot camp and finally four tours in Iraq.
Nick: This film is surrounded in controversy for which I think is completely unwarranted. The film is somewhat a propaganda piece, but what do you think you are going to get when a film is based off a book written by the sniper who has no regrets in the many people he has killed. It’s told from one person’s point-of-view, not a country’s. As well, many of Chris Kyle’s stories from back home have either been proven false or just thought to be completely fabricated. http://mpmacting.com/blog/2014/7/19/truth-justice-and-the-curious-case-of-chris-kyle
Dustin: I haven’t followed the behind-the-scenes stuff much, so I can’t speak to that. I didn’t feel like this movie was propaganda. It portrayed Kyle and the SEALS in a positive light, but we also saw the damage it did to him mentally and to his family. I thought it was good from a narrative standpoint. The movie never really questions the Iraq war, and neither does Kyle. We see him go straight to Iraq after seeing footage of 9/11 on TV, then destruction in Iraq, but the film sort of sidesteps the political reasons for the war as we see Kyle’s obsessive drive to catch an al-Qaeda operative known as “the Butcher” and an enemy sniper, Mustafa.
Nick: I think the film chooses a side only because it’s told from its character’s perspective, rather than the country’s, and his perspective is definitely one-sided. It’s probably the first war film I’ve seen where there’s no sympathy for the other side or doubts about the war they’re fighting. This and how Kyle is portrayed as a faultless man make the film feel like propaganda. Kyle is the first one taking care of his buddies after they’ve been shot, he always hits his target with his first or second meaningful shot, etc., etc… But the one thing he had a fault with was being able to take care of his family after each time he came home, but that was wrapped up in the last scene to where he deserved a father-of-the-year trophy.
Dustin: He comes off as a bit of a superhero while in battle. That’s clearly his element. But he certainly wasn’t flawless. He refers to Iraqis as “savages,” like an old cowboys and Indians movie. He has trouble empathising with people who don’t share his vision of the war, or who are shell-shocked. He also isn’t fair to his family in his obsessive drive to keep going into Iraq to stop Mustafa.
Dustin: I haven’t followed the behind-the-scenes stuff much, so I can’t speak to that. I didn’t feel like this movie was propaganda. It portrayed Kyle and the SEALS in a positive light, but we also saw the damage it did to him mentally and to his family. I thought it was good from a narrative standpoint. The movie never really questions the Iraq war, and neither does Kyle. We see him go straight to Iraq after seeing footage of 9/11 on TV, then destruction in Iraq, but the film sort of sidesteps the political reasons for the war as we see Kyle’s obsessive drive to catch an al-Qaeda operative known as “the Butcher” and an enemy sniper, Mustafa.
Nick: I think the film chooses a side only because it’s told from its character’s perspective, rather than the country’s, and his perspective is definitely one-sided. It’s probably the first war film I’ve seen where there’s no sympathy for the other side or doubts about the war they’re fighting. This and how Kyle is portrayed as a faultless man make the film feel like propaganda. Kyle is the first one taking care of his buddies after they’ve been shot, he always hits his target with his first or second meaningful shot, etc., etc… But the one thing he had a fault with was being able to take care of his family after each time he came home, but that was wrapped up in the last scene to where he deserved a father-of-the-year trophy.
Dustin: He comes off as a bit of a superhero while in battle. That’s clearly his element. But he certainly wasn’t flawless. He refers to Iraqis as “savages,” like an old cowboys and Indians movie. He has trouble empathising with people who don’t share his vision of the war, or who are shell-shocked. He also isn’t fair to his family in his obsessive drive to keep going into Iraq to stop Mustafa.
Nick: He’s flawless from the perspective that he represents. As well in his mind he is fair to his family because he is saving them from the potential threat that those “savages” represent.
Dustin: I guess what others would see as faults, he wouldn’t agree. I would say he’s consistent, if not faultless.
Nick: Another thing this film is getting heat for is the fake baby. Did you notice the fake baby?
Dustin: Yeah, and I was going to mention it. You know it’s bad when it is so obvious. I didn’t even know of the fake baby controversy before seeing it. But as soon as I saw Cooper pick up the baby, I was like, “That’s fake.” Then I was laughing as he used his thumbs to move the baby’s arm to make it look like it was real.
Nick: It really detracted from the intensity of the film. I was hoping maybe the children carrying bombs towards troops might suddenly turn out to be marionettes.
Dustin: In their defense, a real baby would be a pain-in-the-ass, especially if child labor laws were being applied.
Nick: The story is the first child was sick and the second was a no-show so then director Clint Eastwood just said grab that fake baby. This is the story that came out after everyone in the press was focusing on that.
Dustin: It is a detail, I think.
Dustin: Yeah, and I was going to mention it. You know it’s bad when it is so obvious. I didn’t even know of the fake baby controversy before seeing it. But as soon as I saw Cooper pick up the baby, I was like, “That’s fake.” Then I was laughing as he used his thumbs to move the baby’s arm to make it look like it was real.
Nick: It really detracted from the intensity of the film. I was hoping maybe the children carrying bombs towards troops might suddenly turn out to be marionettes.
Dustin: In their defense, a real baby would be a pain-in-the-ass, especially if child labor laws were being applied.
Nick: The story is the first child was sick and the second was a no-show so then director Clint Eastwood just said grab that fake baby. This is the story that came out after everyone in the press was focusing on that.
Dustin: It is a detail, I think.
I read the Mustafa character, who was only in one part of the book, was drawn out in the movie to give Kyle motivation and create a story arc. It makes sense from a storytelling standpoint, but I wonder if it’s appropriate when telling a “true” story about a controversial war.
Nick: I think that adds to the propaganda standpoint. Plus in that one scene where the troops were treated to a meal by an Iraqi whose place they were holed up in I knew from that second he would be shown to be hiding something, and of course he who discovers this Iraqi is hiding something of course is Chris Kyle with his sixth-sense abilities. There wasn’t a single Iraqi they came in contact with who ended up being just an average person.
Nick: I think that adds to the propaganda standpoint. Plus in that one scene where the troops were treated to a meal by an Iraqi whose place they were holed up in I knew from that second he would be shown to be hiding something, and of course he who discovers this Iraqi is hiding something of course is Chris Kyle with his sixth-sense abilities. There wasn’t a single Iraqi they came in contact with who ended up being just an average person.
Dustin: He knew he was a sniper because he saw the chafing on the man’s elbows, indicating someone who spends a lot of time on his elbows looking throw the sights of a rifle.
Nick: I’m just pointing it out as part of his super heroics and that the one kind Iraqi ended up being not-so-kind (in terms of U.S.A. perspective).
Nick: I’m just pointing it out as part of his super heroics and that the one kind Iraqi ended up being not-so-kind (in terms of U.S.A. perspective).
Dustin: Again, this is Chris Kyle’s movie, as you said. He sees them as “savages,” his own words. I found I could get invested in the film, despite not sharing many of his views.
Nick: I did as well while not sharing a single view expressed within the film. I think that is a testament to Eastwood’s direction.
Nick: I did as well while not sharing a single view expressed within the film. I think that is a testament to Eastwood’s direction.
You should look up the many false things in the film compared to his book and also the truths compared to Chris Kyle’s boasts. It’s actually fascinating reading.
Dustin: I read some of them. Still like the movie.
Nick: So did I… again.
Nick: So did I… again.
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