American Sniper

The yearly Clint Eastwood-Oscar bait freight train rolls right along through the end of 2014.

Based on the book of the same name, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is a good ol' Texas boy who, along with his younger brother, are taught tough lessons by their father; Chris in particular, doing a good job of hunting with his dad. While performing rodeos in Texas, Chris attracts the attention of Taya Renae; (Sienna Miller) both hitting it off immediately. Early into their relationship, Chris decides to give up on the rodeo gig and enlists for the Navy SEALs.

Alternating between the multiple tours of duty overseas and his ever-increasingly troubled home life, director Clint Eastwood never gives the film time to establish either story the film is trying to tell. While in Iraq, Chris is teamed with a group of soldiers, yet none of them are able to be properly set-up in an attempt to distinguish one from another. Some of these soldiers die, yet you never really feel the loss that Chris does because the audience has never been given the proper time to be invested with Chris' core group of soldiers.

When not continuing on with his kill-count, Chris and Taya's relationship strains further and further as they become an ever-growing family. Yet, when at home, the and the trouble Chris has with being a normal civilian never rings true as their is no angst; just Chris not being able to handle his time away from military duty. The tension that should be in these scenes falls flat as, instead of watching someone deteriorate before our eyes, it instead feels like an afterthought that Chris just can't handle a normal life anymore. This is not a knock on either Bradley Cooper or Sienna Miller, as I felt both did a solid job.

The script, adapted by Jason Hall, does not allow the film to take any chances nor allow us to invest with anybody in the film besides Chris and, to a lesser extent, Taya. Not having read the book, the script feels very rudimentary in its pacing; choosing to play safe and not take any chances either when: Chris is in Iraq or at home. The typical cliches are there, including: making difficult decisions when sniping, not wanting to leave the war, trouble adapting back home, etc. The actual story behind Chris Kyle is more interesting than the script provided. I'm sure not too many liberties were taken with the source material, but the script could have taken a less cliched route.

As with most Clint Eastwood films he has directed, the film is established well and tight in the overall narrative. Even though the film feels tight, what American Sniper really lacked was tension. Everything from the opening sequence where Chris has to decide if he is going to kill a mother and child to the climax in a sandstorm felt derived of tension. If anything, I expected Clint Eastwood to deliver some white-knuckle moments with the sniping scenes, yet I never sat on the edge of my seat. As stated on the wonderful Karina's review, "A definite cinema watch, but it is by no means a classic".

The movie itself is not terrible, yet is not great either. It's very middle of the road, and with a story like this and the talent involved, being middle of the road may be worse than being terrible.

6.4/10

Oh yeah, and there's the fake baby too...

American Hustle

Continuing to play catch-up, here's my review of Oscar hopeful: American Hustle.

Based off the ABSCAM operation and set during the late 1970's and early 1980's, Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a low level con artist working with his girlfriend Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams). After both are caught in a scam by FBI Agent Richie DiMaso, (Bradley Cooper) Irving and Sydney reluctantly work for Richie to bring down various politicians including the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner).

Due to the complexity of the undercover operation, not all parts go smoothly. Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) complicates matters as a potential love triangle forms between Irving, Richie and Sydney. As the operation progresses, Irving and Carmine start to become friends and Richie wants the operation to grow in size in an effort to take down more and more corrupt politicians. The size of the operation begins spiral out of control and all parties involved begin to struggle to keep everything in order.

The plot is not as complex as it sounds, but it is more of a foundation for what truly makes this film entertaining: the performances. Even as I felt this was my favorite film of the year, I understand that American Hustle is not a great film. The plot falls by the wayside in favor of letting you enjoy the performances and the fun that the actors and director, David O. Russell are having.

The fun that the actors and crew are having does not take you out of the film. Instead the film brings you in and provides you with one of the best comedies of the year. Everything from the bad wigs, to bad accents and the way the characters handle the complicated scam that is presented in this film as a fun, but not overly-complicated 2 hour film. Even the title card that starts the movie, really sets the tone for how serious the film handles the ABSCAM plot that the film is based on. American Hustle tries really hard to entertain you, and based off what David O. Russell and the cast offer, I feel the film succeeds on that level.

The one weak link in the film for me, personally was Jeremy Renner. Everyone else in the film felt like they were on the same page, but with his character everything felt off and out of place and ultimately felt that Jeremy Renner was miscast as Mayor Polito. As the film progresses towards its conclusion, there is a scene where Irving and Carmine confront each other in Carmine's house. Carmine asks Irving if he is lying to him; at which time I felt bad for the character itself, but not by the performance delivered by Jeremy Renner.

I know there's been a lot of hate and backlash towards the film lately, but as just an enjoyable piece of cinema with overall good performances, it's hard to not rank American Hustle near the top of the best films list of 2013.

8.3/10