American Sniper

Tali: American Sniper tells the story of "The Legend" - a US Navy SEAL, who during the War In Iraq is credited with the most kills but a single person. OKAY, SO. This film is made by a man who is recently most famous for publicly talking to an empty chair. This film wasn't bad per se, but I am not used to consuming such pro-America media. It took a lot of mental gymnastics for me to take this film apart as I was watching it, otherwise I would have been totally fed up (ex: all of the Iraqi's are nameless and are otherwise refered to as "evil," "savages," etc.). I felt the most sympathy Sienna Miller, who seemed to be the only one in the whole show that recognized that invading Iraq for no reason would be a huge mistake, and would cause such catastrophic problems on both macro and micro levels. Ultimately, Bradley Cooper was fine, the movie was fine, but the message was VERY clear and I knew I wouldn't be drinking the Kool-Aid by the end. 69/100.

Leo: I was sort of surprised this movie was nominated since it seemed so.....well.....unoriginal. And it was, but I can't say it wasn't well done. I do think Bradley Cooper deserves the nomination he got for it if only because I think he isn't totally believe in everything he was saying and actually made it seem like every shot he took at some child or woman took a bit out of him, even if the character would refuse to admit. Sienna Miller was also very good. I do like how the biopic did not picture "the Legend" as a saint, but at the same time it was not pretending to be an anti-war movie like The Hurt Locker, which I think is important for a biopic (and I think one of my criticisms of Selma - not that I believe the movies are even comparable in quality....). It was what it was meant to be, and frankly, as much as it's an annoying pro-America narrative, it was well done. Except for those plastic babies apparently (I thought I saw one twitch during the movie but I guess not). Leometer: 75/100.