American Sniper Critical Response

“I just want to get the bad guys, but if I can't see them I can't shoot them.”

-Chris Kyle, American Sniper

One of the most controversial films of 2015 is coming to Aksarben Cinema on Friday. American Sniper directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Bradley Cooper is the story of Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history. The film is based on real-life Kyle’s book of the same name and focuses on a period of time in which Kyle was sent to Iraq to protect other American military men.

Collected below are famous U.S. critics’ responses to American Sniper, both positive and negative. What is clear is that American Sniper is an important film that needs to be seen.

Richard Corliss, Time

“Cooper, who in earlier roles perfected the persona of the sharp conniver, makes a fast, expert U turn from American Hustle to American Sniper. Packing an extra 30 or so pounds of beef and beer weight, Cooper gives Chris a galoot’s sincerity. He lacks the belligerence of the traditional war lover, allowing himself no Lone Star whoops when he hits a human target.”

Amy Nicholson, LA Weekly

“The film hints, whisper-soft, that perhaps Kyle was afraid to think too hard about the life-and-death decisions his country asked him to make — a fear Kyle himself would have phooeyed. He was a hero doing and saying the things a hero should, and Eastwood is too tongue-tied to prevent this unexamined jingoism from echoing through the multiplex. Instead, Eastwood simply steps back and allows American Sniper to play like heartland bingo, in its opening minutes paying homage to guns, football, hunting, Bibles, Lone Star beer and rodeo cowboys.”

Elizabeth Weitzman, Daily News

“The best movies are ever-shifting, intelligent and open-hearted enough to expand alongside an audience. ‘American Sniper,’ Clint Eastwood’s harrowing meditation on war, is built on this foundation of uncommon compassion...Cooper’s natural humility is perfect for a hero whose unshakable courage is both wrenching and incomprehensible. Still, a little more comprehension would have been helpful. Kyle is never truly defined beyond the bounds of war, though perhaps that’s intentional. Death becomes the one arena that gives his life meaning.”

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