Joyce and I saw American Sniper today. It was a powerful movie. The action was pretty much nonstop. The tension was high during several scenes as we waited, real time, to see if he would or would not pull the trigger. We saw the targets at the same time he did, so the audience did not know if they were enemy or civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wish the movie had emphasized Chris Kyles post war PTSD issues more. They were shown, but several instances were pretty subtle and might be missed by a non-military moviegoer. Others were obvious. His family issues and adjustment problems might have also been shown a little more. These were shown, but they just sort of popped up- the film did not show the gradual build up of the problems between Kyle and his wife. None of these are serious flaws- they only have a few hours to tell the story, of course. This next part may be a spoiler, so if you havent seen the movie or know Kyles story, stop reading and go buy a ticket..... That ending- wow. I havent had such a powerful reaction to a movie ending since seeing Schindlers List in a Monterey, CA theater with a mostly elderly, Jewish audience. As others have noted, there wasnt a peep from the audience during the end, and during the slow walk out of the theater. I guess it is hard to talk while fighting back the tears. I highly recommend this movie. It shows the human side of modern war in a way we dont see very often. If any Oscar voters are reading, keep this one in mind when you fill out your ballots. Roslyn Watford Houston - you asked for opinions. This was mine. :-)
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 23:47:07 +0000