American Sniper(2014)

                                                                      

"The Most Lethal Sniper In U.S. History

PLOT

Navy Seal Sniper Chris Kyle pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. back home to his wife and kids after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can't leave behind.

Clint Eastwood directs the life story about Navy Seal Sniper Chris Kyle who was herald as the most dangerous sniper in U.S. history. the film is based off of Kyle’s book of the same name.

The film begins with Chris (Bradley Cooper) on a rooftop watching as a convoy is moving through a war torn town and a man sees them, makes a call them leaves, moments later a woman and a boy exit a building carrying a grenade and as both move towards the convey Kyle makes the tough decision and kills both.

American Sniper portray’s Kyle in two ways on one hand he is an American Hero who is praised for what he does and well respected by soldiers who gives him the nickname “Legend” for his actions on the battle field and then he is shown as a man who struggles with living a normal life when he is with his wife Taya (Sienna Miller) or just dealing with day to day living when not in the warzone.

As a fan of war films and movies about snipers, I thought that Eastwood did a very good job of directing the action scenes especially the scenes where Kyle struggles with weather or not to kill the mother and son is done very well with how the tension is built up, I’m sure most people who see the film will look at that differently.

Bradley Cooper does a fine job as Chris Kyle there are a few scenes that Cooper showcases his range and just let’s his facial expresses speak for him which shows his growth as an actor, I will say that the scenes of him during his tours of duty are better then the ones where he’s not. I don’t think Cooper really deserved an Oscar nod for this performance, even though its a good performance but it’s not that good especially when there were a few better that deserved a nod.

I thought Sienna Miller was good but there did seem to be some lack of chemistry between her and Cooper in a few scenes between the two that somewhat took me out of the film, but with that being said she was good with what she was given to do.

I know that the real life Chris Kyle and the film has been at the center of a few controversies a few of them I agree with and a few I don’t, calling the film a propaganda film is some what of a cheap shot when in fact all war movies can be looked at as so, but if you just look at the movie as a movie and not read to too much into it then I think it’s one of the better films dealing with soldiers at war, how it affects them and their families are brought to the attention as well.

All in all is American Sniper a perfect film. No it is not. Does it deserve some of the backlash that it’s been getting. yes and no. is it a film that should be seen. I believe so. so if you do see the movie try to judge it first just off the movie more so then anything first and then worry about the other stuff separate because it’s not the first movie like this and probably will not be the last one like it as well.

MY RATING: 8/10

CAST

Bradley Cooper- Chris Kyle

Sienna Miller- Taya 

Kyle Gallner- Goat-Winston

Cory Hardrict- Dandridge

Keir O'Donnell- Jeff Kyle

Sammy Sheik- Mutafa

Eric Close- DIA Agent Snead 

Jake McDorman- Biggles

Luke Grimes- Marc Lee

The Place Beyond The Pines (2013)

"If you ride like lighting, you're going to crash like thunder"


MY THOUGHTS

The Place Beyond The Pines is set up in a three part arc about fathers and sons and life decisions that affect future events.

ACT I is about Luke(Ryan Gosling) who is a motorcycle stuntman who has a baby with Romina (Eva Mendes) and wants to be apart of the baby's life and decides to become a bank robber in order to provide for the kid.

ACT II centers around Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper) who becomes a local hero after bringing down a local criminal who gets mixed up with a corruption scandal that is running rampart threw the city and puts him at odds with fellow cops, friends and his family.

ACT III revolves around Jason(Dane DeHaan) and AJ(Emory Cohen) teenagers who are the sons of Luke and Avery and everything that goes on between them is tied together by past events of both their fathers.

I was really surprised when I saw this movie, in a very good way, because they trailer for this movie is a little misleading but misleading in a good way because once you see how the movie plays out it was a good thing certain things were not spoiled in the trailer which seems to be a normal thing these days.

The Place Beyond The Pines is one of those movies that really hits home to me because I can related to a few of the themes that play out over the course of the movie and I'm sure anybody else who sees this movie will as well.

Ryan Gosling gives another great performance here as Luke the mysterious stuntman turned bank robber, he doesn't have to say much just like his character in Drive but its all in his emotions and facial expressions which makes this a great turn for him, you will feel sorry for him even though his actions are bad his intentions are for good.

Bradley Cooper really shows here just like in Silver Lining Playbook why he should've won the Best Actor award this year, but after that movie and now this one, I'm sure his time is coming were he'll be winning that award. he has really come a long way from The Hangover movies and good to see him showing what he can bring to the table as an actor.

Eva Mendes probably gives her best career performance here which is a good thing because her character goes threw probably most ups and downs second to only Bradley Coopers character, maybe its a good thing her and Gosling are in a relationship in real life because it seems like some of his acting is rubbing off onto her now.

Dana DeHaan who plays Jason seems to be up and coming star with alot of potential after turns in Chronicle, Lawless and the HBO series In Treatment his star can only seem to get brighter.

I swear Ray Liotta is in every kind of movie that comes out in recent years, he is very good here and shows that he can still be a strong support actor in a big movie come on  Hollywood what are you doing have you forgot Goodfellas.

Ben Mendelsohn once again steals every scene he's in, in this movie I can't say enough about this guy he is becoming one of those character actors that makes the movie that much better just by his name appearing on the screen and he gives the best line of the movie which is the same as the one I used as the tag line for it
"If you ride like lightning, you're going to crash like thunder"

I highly recommend this movie to everybody because Derek Cianfrance really did a great directing job here, I have yet to watch his previous film Blue Valentine but I will soon because he's a true filmmaker.

everyone in the cast is excellent which is a rare thing these days but with a couple films I've seen recently including this their is still hope for great acting and really stories being told even if their not big budget superhero blockbuster that are coming out right now, but I gave up a chance to go see Iron Man 3 or Star Trek Into Darkness and decided to see this instead and I'm glad I did because movies like this don't come around to often so I didn't want to miss the chance to see it.


MY RATING 9/10

CAST
Ryan Gosling- Luke
Bradley Cooper-Avery
Eva Mendes-Romina
Ben Mendelsohn- Robin
Rose Byrne-Jennifer
Dane DeHaan-Jason
Emory Cohen-AJ
Ray Liotta-Deluca
Mahershala Ali-Kofi