A little more Bradley Cooper, A little less everything else…..

Clint Eastwood returns to solid form with this tale of the real life exploits of Chris Kyle, a United States Navy SEAL who was awarded the dubious title of most lethal sniper in U.S. military history.

A stark, powerfully-acted drama featuring a career-best turn from Bradley Cooper.

The story is wafer-thin , not even worth getting into…. School essays on Kyle would have more depth. But this is all about the two men – one behind the camera and the other in front who are on top of their games…

Both the action scenes and the scenes at “home” are filmed with extraordinary spatial clarity – very much filmmaking 101

Its because of these two “heroes” that despite its missteps, American Sniper is still a powerful, deftly pulled-off film which works more as a competent character study of a single-minded man, and less as a lesson on war and its aftermath.

In conclusion, if a ticket at a multiplex costs Rs.300 this movie is worth every penny if you treat it as a movie and not some deeper meditation on war….

SAUMIL BHANSHALI