I just watched it. There is far, far too much BS attached to this film like the misleading movie trailers and the political fallout. I'm going to ignore all that, because it should be ignored, and just focus on the movie.
It's very well done, and Eastwood is still a top notch director, even into his 80's. Chris Kyle is portrayed in a fairly balanced light, well played by Bradley Cooper. The action sequences are intense, and we do get an insight into how fragile life expectancy is in places like Iraq.
I thought Miller's character could've been a little more fleshed out. Sometimes it seems like she's constantly holding her mouth, crying, repeating "come home, chris" over and over again. It sort of makes her into a nagger more than a strong character, who legitimately wanted the guy home to be a father and husband.
Kyle eventually does come home for good after 4 tours, but he is permanently branded with a bit of a killer instinct. However, as a youth, he was taught how to hunt. He exceeds at that, and since the focus of the movie is primarily on him being a hunter, it works.
I would've liked to see something based on more than just his memoir, though. It could've had a bigger scope to get an idea of what his wife was going through at home. It also would've been nice to see some of the Iraqis as more than just moving targets. But it's hard for a war movie to humanize many people.
I think it's irresponsible to label this as war propaganda, just as i think it's wrong to simply deify Kyle. I definitely think Kyle was a flawed person...and I probably would've kept my distance. He certainly did his job well, but it's not like he won the war by himself.
One little complaint I have, and I have this bone to pick with a lot of filmmakers...the last shot of the guy who winds up killing Kyle is totally unnecessary. Oooh, he's spooky and creepy, he looks like a killer. What's the point of that? Especially since his wife keeps on looking at him funny. It just seemed like Eastwood was forcing us to figure out what was already pretty obvious. Huh, think the guy's a little...CRAZY? It was just kinda cheap.
Other than that, a good, solid movie.
out of