American Sniper

Again I will say that the recent onslaught of film releases is a bit overwhelming.  Again I will ask how films can be nominated for prizes when they have not been released.  While it seems as if there are some quality films in this recent stew, a staggered period of release would be easier for the consumer to absorb.  It's hype.  What difference does it make?  A film is a film.  Rarely do they lose money.  If they do lose revenue at the box office there are a slew of other platforms for their viewing and subsequent earning.  The first and only movie I have seen in over a year was American Sniper.  I wanted to see a film that was nominated for best picture.  I was disappointed.  As a composer it was unnerving that there was no musical score.  Upon reflection I do understand that this movie is not intended to be mainstream entertainment.  I think we can agree on that.  It is not a documentary either.  If it had been it would have been more entertaining.  American Sniper was far from entertaining.  It was down right boring at times.  I looked at my watch and asked myself why I was being asked to watch such mundane activity.  It I believe was intended to be a real life story, a glimpse of a Navy Seals average ordinary life.  While most of us know that is a contradiction, this is how it came off in the movie.  There was little notoriety about the unusual skills of a Navy Seal.  Instead it seemed like an accurate depiction of the life of a G.I.  It was rote, it was jar-headed, and it was lifeless.  It had to be an conscious decision by the films director and producer to eliminate emotion from their characters.  It is understandable that a tactical warrior operating at that level would be encumbered by feelings.  He was a machine, and watching an emotionless machine for over two hours is not entertaining.  At the end of its expose the viewer is entitled to one short sentence written on the screen explaining that this particular Navy Seal was killed by another war veteran he was trying to help.  One sentence.  It didn't make sense at all.  Possibly that is because his murderer is yet to stand trial.  The trial is scheduled for February.  After two solid hours of inane melodrama with no musical underpinning, suddenly we are expected to break down and feel sympathy over the Seal's death.  It didn't make sense.    Understanding that Bradley Cooper produced this movie could explain these points.  Effective actors are no always effective producers.  I'm sure that Clint Eastwood needed a gig.  I just wish he had been hired to write a score.