By Tiffany Skelnik

The movie American Sniper is a Clint Eastwood directed biopic about Chris Kyle, a sniper for the Navy SEALs who served four tours in Iraq. The movie is adapted from Kyle’s autobiography with the same name. Kyle is played by Bradley Cooper, who earned a best actor nomination for the role. The movie also stars Sienna Miller as Kyle’s wife Taya.

The film does a fantastic job of treating this brave man’s story with the respect it deserves. It gives an inside look into the many facets of Kyle. It shows what war can do to a person and how sometimes an overwhelming sense of duty can cloud everything else. The times when Kyle was on leave are a demonstration of this. He tried to be the person everyone remembered but his mind kept going back to his brothers still in the fight. The things he saw changed him to the point that he denied the fact that he needed help in order to help his fellow soldiers. Kyle also had an overwhelming sense of justice, which affected his relationships.

The way Cooper handled his role was a performance to remember. He really does become a man torn between duty and family. He played both the high action moments and the quiet moments with a grace that carried the film. It was easy to see the evolution of this man as a soldier, a husband and a father.

I am not surprised that this film was nominated for best picture. The performances and the script come together to pay tribute to one extraordinary man, a life well lived and the men and women that serve our country by putting their lives on the line. This film is a worthy nominee and deserves every recognition it has received.