Clint Eastwood’s directorial output has been less than inspiring lately – Jersey Boys, J. Edgar, Hereafter, Invictus – but maybe he’s getting back to what he knows best in American Sniper, men with guns trying to decide whether to waste brown people. Bradley Cooper plays Chris Kyle, “the most lethal sniper in American history,” according to Kyle’s autobiography on which the film is based, a role for which Cooper supposedly gained 40 pounds. It probably wasn’t that necessary for the part, but we can’t have actors running around with nothing to do, idle jazz hands are the devil’s playthings and all of that.
The first trailer, interestingly, is less about killing than it is about trying to make the right decision, as B-Coop’s life flashes before his eyes as he tries to decide whether to waste a little kid carrying an explosive (easy decision, waste away). It’s like he forgot the number one rule of warfare. How do you shoot women and children? Easy, you just don’t lead ’em as much!
At least, that’s what I’ve learned about war from watching Kubrick movies with my kitty cats.
American Sniper opens January 16th.