like Eastwood.
The movie is an adaptation of
the memoir of Chris Kyle, played
here by a beefed up but mellowed out Bradley Cooper, a
Navy SEAL sniper who, prior to
his death at the hands of a disturbed fellow veteran, claimed
to have notched up 255 kills,
160 of them officially confirmed.
With his outspoken hatred of his
enemy, to some Kyle was a hero,
some a serial killer, and a mix of
both to others. His path begins,
like the rebooted Jack Ryan film
series, with his viewing of a terrorist attack on TV, prompting
New Jersey Stage
himself and his younger brother
to join the military.
Trained in rifle skills by his father, Kyle quickly establishes
himself as an expert marksman
and is assigned the role of sniper when sent to Iraq at the outset
of that extended campaign.
Perched upon high, his job is
to scour the area below for enemy threats to his fellow soldiers
at ground level. His first victims
are a woman and a young boy
attempting to hurl a grenade at
US troops. The hits quickly rack
up, earning Kyle “legend” status
among the military.
January 2015
pg 54