Movies: American Sniper

(Drivebycuriosity) - Clint Eastwood has a remarkable career. In the 1950s he went to Europe and kindled his career in the role of a gunslinger in Sergio Leone's "Spaghetti Western". Back in the US he became soon popular as the detective "Dirty Harry". In the 1970s he started a second career as movie director. Over 4 decades he created cinematic jewels like "Pale Rider","Unforgiven", "Mystic River" , "Million Dollar Baby" and "J. Edgar".

This  made me very curios for "American Sniper", Eastwood´s newest opus (imdb). The director didn`t disappoint. He delivered another masterpiece. He tells the story of an American hero, a sniper, who protected his fellow soldiers in the Iraq war and saved a lot of lives by shooting enemies who were attacking US troops (this is a spoiler free blog).

"American Sniper" is a trilling and haunting movie which puts the audience on a roller coaster of emotions. Eastwood shows the horror of war. He immerses the viewers deep into the mess & chaos of the Iraq conflict and let them participate in the fears, thrills, shocks, triumphs and mental stress the sniper and the other soldiers are experiencing in action. He also deals with the situation of the sniper`s wife at home. As in his former films Eastwood blends the action with a lot of psychology.

Bradley Cooper, who had his muscle mass massively pumped up for the leading role, did a good job. The actor displayed the confidence needed in his job but also the tensions and the growing mental and family issues the war hero had to pay for his extremely risky and bold actions.

"American Sniper" is a enthralling document of contemporary history and a fascinating piece of modern cinema.