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MOVIE REVIEW 'Sniper' reveals the total cost of war Comment By Chris Honoré for Revels DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Jan. 22, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Jan. 22, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News American Sniper; 134 min; Rated R The just-released “American Sniper” has garnered six Oscar nominations, and of those six one is for best actor (Bradley Cooper in the role of Navy SEALs sniper Chris Kyle) and one is for best picture. The film, adapted from Kyle’s 2012 memoir, has resonated not only with the Academy of Motion Pictures but with moviegoers, breaking January records for a three-day weekend opening, earning more than $105 million. The question begged is why. One reason may be that director Clint Eastwood has created a film that transcends the formulaic war-combat narrative and focuses not just on those intense moments when Kyle is peering through his rifle scope at a target in the distance, but examines, as if in reverse, the toll war takes on the psyche of one man as he does multiple tours in Iraq. To quote Friedrich Nietzsche, “If thou gaze long into the abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” The film opens with Kyle using his scope to study a Fallujah street where he is providing cover for a squad of Marines as the troops go door to door. Suddenly, a woman and a young boy step out into the street. Kyle adjusts his scope and watches them closely and then sees the woman take from her chador a rocket grenade, handing it to the boy who then walks toward the soldiers moving slowly toward him. It is a soul-searing moment and reminiscent of “The Hurt Locker” in its impact. And Kyle is convinced that he possesses that psychological armor which allows him to justify every kill (he is credited with 160). Had he not made the shot, soldiers would have lost their lives. But slowly, incrementally, his tours (four in all) begin to change him. And it is that transformation, at first imperceptible (certainly to himself), which makes what could have been a modern day western into a very human, multi-dimensional story of lethality and anguish. It’s a cliché to say that war is hell. But it is too often a hell that has been romanticized by Hollywood. For decades, wounds were bloodless, the damage modern weaponry can do to the human body all but obscured. But no longer. And it was Steven Spielberg in “Saving Private Ryan”who refused to flinch, especially in the opening scenes of the D-Day/Normandy landing. In the case of Chris Kyle, who left Iraq physically unscathed, his wounds were invisible but no less impactful. And it is his wife, Taya (Sienna Miller) who tries to overcome his denial of the reality that his tours have affected him. She finds his emotional body armor all but impenetrable. She is powerless, and he lacks the requisite insight, so deep is his conviction about his mission, hence he is unable to acknowledge that the bridge between his life at home and the life he lives while in Iraq is becoming increasingly fragile. In essence, Eastwood has made a film that places the struggle our troops must endure when the war is no longer part of their daily existence at the fore. They are home, and they walk the quiet streets of small and large towns and wish they were somewhere else, for they live with the knowledge that their comrades are, at that moment, walking narrow trails or dusty alleys, on patrol, without them. It is a reality that haunts them, a kaleidoscope of terrifying memories that shroud their moments, a purgatory that has no exit. Some 25 soldiers, having returned home, commit suicide each day. It is an awful number. Chris Kyle was not one of those statistics. But he could have been. And to Clint Eastwood’s credit, he does not back away from that existential choice, but lets Cooper explore it emotionally in an Oscar-worthy performance. By Chris Honoré for Revels DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Jan. 22, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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