This film ain’t big enough for the Award wins… Clint Eastwood reference… no? no? OK stick to my reviewing then shall I? Bradley Cooper is up for yet another Academy Award nomination for a film – that he is good at – but he hasn’t quite reached the same level as other contestants.
I was a bit wary about thing film – the content and all – and this is a very sensitive subject but y’know it was given a huge budget and Clint Eastwood directed it and starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller… it’s bound to bring in the viewers. Much more, it is a veeeery patriot film so I’m guessing that the demographic was mostly Americans. No way am I dissing this film at all, as I said the content is very sensitive, but I’m just saying that if it wasn’t such a blockbuster film.. a more indie one… then people might not want to watch it/ have flocked to it as much. The premise is basically another biopic of Chris Kyle, the deadliest American sniper around, and his four tours to Iraq, all while having his own life back in the States and juggling between the two.
On a more positive note, Bradley Cooper is a very diverse actor – from The Hangover, Silver Linings Playbook (probably one of my favourite films ever) to American Sniper – no wonder he’s got another Oscar Nomination. He changed physically for the role, which I admire when actors portray a role and it means that they’re fully committed to it but I’m not sure if I was 100% convinced through the whole film. Some parts, his accent slips a bit but that seems to happen quite frequently and the director just doesn’t care and shoves it in anyway!
Sienna Miller… Sienna Miller.. Sienna Miller.. I didn’t even realise that it was her at the beginning of the film! Well… I knew but only because I knew she was in the film, even then I was doubting myself that it was her. I thought she was quite good in it but I expected to see her more than she was on screen. Nonetheless, her accent was great, her acting was great that we saw and it was all just convincing. By bringing her perspective into the picture – it allows us to have an insight into how hard it can be for others affected too. Basically, from this film – the thing I went away with the most was how sad and frustrating the ending was & that we should be very respectful and grateful for all the men & women who volunteer for our countries at the end of the day. Whether the film had faults or not, that is clearly not the point of the film and I hope it makes people realise how lucky we are to have people who volunteer.
Now… we’ve all seen about the baby doll haven’t we? It’s everywhere… He should have been more careful with his angles. I know that he’s spoken out about it all and from the looks of things, he’s gotten ve-e-ery aggressive about things. So I’ve heard. But the film hasn’t been all that bad. It was covered up quite nicely by the actors, just shoving this plastic baby into their bodies…
Aesthetically – there was a sense of grittiness and realism around it – fitting into the form of the biopic. It was a very hard hitting, dramatic sounding films with loads of THWACKS… BANGS… BOOMS… happening. It was certainly action-packed and at parts, I was sitting on the edge of my seat. Even the cuts were fast pacing. It was certainly an adrenaline rush to watch and made me want to get up and do something.
I only have one question about the film and it might be a possible spoiler.. but… what happened to his brother? If anyone has any answers please comment below! I don’t remember his brother being mentioned after he saw him and I don’t know if that’s an insinuation about his brothers life or what.. but… I’m interested in knowing. I’ve only just realised whilst writing this review actually.
Aside from that, it’s your typical american-patriotic film which a turn of events that makes you feel very lucky about your country having volunteers. Again, nothing great that I would instantly go back and watch but it was good enough to go watch for myself and I’d probably watch it again on DVD release.
7/10.
straight off the silver screen 
It’s a compelling look at PTSD and a very tragic figure. Even if there’s already plenty of controversy surrounding this as is. Good review.
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