American Sniper

Last summer, Clint Eastwood's generally fun-less musical Jersey Boys made its mark. This time, he's got the true life story American Sniper to tell. It's quite better than Jersey Boys but is it a masterpiece?

The American Sniper was Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), a rodeo star turned Navy Seal. He accumulated 160 confirmed kills on his four tour of duties which made him the deadliest shot in US military history. He wrote a memoir that writer Jason Hall adapted into this film's screenplay.

And he was killed by an unstable fellow veteran.

Oh yes, there's more to this movie.

See Chris meet and marry Taya (Sienna Miller). See their family grow. See Chris deploy to Iraq in service of his country. See Chris do battle against Al-Qaeda's own deadliest shot Mustafa (Sammy Sheik). See Chris struggle a bit against PTSD.

The film neither condemns nor praises Kyle or the Iraq war. It just shows events in Kyle's life. And then it abruptly ends. Some might say it has no thesis, but I think "sense of duty" suits it well. Kyle eventually admits to a psychologist he wishes he saved more servicemen. In other words, "If I don't do it, who will?" It's a compelling theme but the film's distant tone keeps it from resonating.

Three of its six Oscar nominations went to the film's editors and sound designers. And with good reason. Their work is inseparable in portraying the dangers of war. It does especially well in portraying the misery of PTSD.

American Sniper focuses mainly on the "Legend" and not enough on the man behind the "Legend." I'm sure it's possible to do that without offending anyone on the right or left. I found it an OK war film overall. But at least it was the best of the three war films 2014 unveiled.