American Sniper, a film review by Mike Ghouse

Just came out of the IMAX Theater watching 2 hour 14 minutes of shooting and killing, of course it is reflective of the name of the movie. We were at war with Iraq and unfortunately wars dehumanize others. Chris Kyle, the hero of the movie calls them savages, just as we were savages to them. Our soldiers and theirs were fighting for their lives.  I stand by our soldiers, they do what is asked of them to do and I thank them for their service.

The romantic part at the beginning of the movie was filmed beautifully. How a small conversation can lead into a relationship was so natural and done with ease, it was done very well. Sienna Miller gets high marks for her acting. The birthing scene looked so real, for a few moments I had to ponder if it was real or acted out. In the first scene, the father shouts down at his kids, and I knew the set up for who he was. Should we raise kids who fear us, as if we are monsters? Sometimes the kids are our reflection or they go the opposite way. We need to look in to the mirror and see if we are worth passing it on to the next generation. 

Bradley cooper did his part very well, he gave superb performance particularly when a kid picks up a missile and he was aiming at the kid to save fellow soldiers, and he kept saying no, no to himself and held on to the trigger. I must say Clint East wood has done a fabulous job getting great acting out of that kid.
At the very end, his reaction to the dog barking was filmed very well. Wars have messed up several of our veterans and their rehabilitation should be more important than asking them to go to war.

Even though it is a movie, we can see the ravages of war, and destruction of families. War is the stupidest thing we as Americans have allowed it to happen. I fault our President and Vice President for lying to us and cooking up weapons of mass destruction and linking Iraq to 9/11. The movie was not about facts, so it carried the same fictional theme.  

I wish Bush had listened to the world and the United Nations. We paid a huge price for his stupidity. The war mongers are fine but our soldiers are not, they are traumatized and are suffering. Pay a visit to the VA Hospital and you see it.  We still owe an apology to the Iraqi people who did no wrong to us. It’s a burden we have to carry. Next time around no president is going to war without our consent.   I will do my part as a patriotic citizen – to demonstrate against war. We have another idiot itching to go to war with Iran. We need to shut him up before he fucks up America with his cooked up lies.  

Here is the synopsis of the movie, “U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) takes his sole mission -- protect his comrades -- to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of insurgents. Despite grave danger and his struggle to be a good husband and father to his family back in the States, Kyle serves four tours of duty in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.”

Clint Eastwood kept you glued to the movie. When you think about it, a simple story is made into a gripping story.  Produced and Directed by Clint Eastwood with Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller

Thank you
mike
Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
............................................................................................................................... Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. He is a staunch defender of human rights and his book standing up for others will be out soon, and a movie "Americans together" is in the making.  He is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is listed in 63 links atwww.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com and 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.