[davidrotundo]

Each scene is built as solidly and methodically as a chest of drawers, with no confusion over where the pieces fit. Panic has never been Eastwood’s style, and even during the climactic shoot-out, where a sandstorm engulfs both sides in a symbolic fog of war, the camera remains perceptive and alert.

In the scheme of Eastwood’s career, this comes as something of a relief. After the murky triple-flub of Hereafter, J. Edgar and  Jersey Boys, Movie brings us back the Eastwood who made Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.

His magnificent paired war films from 2006, and reminds us that the theatre of war – a stark testing ground for manhood – may be the ideal stage for this filmmaker’s late-career concerns.

But what’s missing – and what lifted Kathryn Bigelow’s recent, thematically similar war films The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty into the realm of great cinema – is a sense of fatefulness.

Kyle’s story, finely textured as it is, doesn’t tell us much about anything other than Kyle himself, whereas the intensely personal stories in Bigelow’s films posed bigger questions, broadening their outlooks even as they narrowed their focus.

Movie is too direct for that, but it's still a welcome comeback for Eastwood. In Movie we follow the gut-wrenching account of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), a U.S.

Navy SEAL sniper deployed to the Middle East shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. With a “sheepdog’s” protective instincts serving as the basis for his moral code.

Chris takes to the battlefield like a fish to water, conquering early trepidation to become “The Legend,” a.k.a. the most proficient eye-in-the-sky guardian angel that U.S. forces have at their disposal.

For most servicemen and women, that title and acclaim might’ve been enough – but not for Chris. After returning home from one tour of duty – to his wife Taya (Sienna Miller) and young son – Chris finds that his mind (and heart) are still in the war, so he returns to the fight again, and again, and again.

However, with each new tour of duty another piece of Chris’ sanity begins to crumble, while his reputation and relentless tactics quickly make him a prime target of insurgent militants – including one Iraqi sniper whose skills just may rival Chris’ own.

[mondi]

Cool story Bro.......

[360c]

I saw American sniper last week. Not quite Eastwood at his best; but right up there.

[dodger]

Eastwood is just the greatest on many levels.

[amgsl55]

Eastwood is just the greatest on many levels.

+1

I put Yul Brynner up there as well

[anotherforumuser]

Who is davidrotundo? No start date etc? Canadian Mod or a glitch?

[PA]

Spammer that Mondi raped and then murdered.

[mondi]

Spammer that Mondi raped and then murdered.