However, it already had my attention since I first saw the trailer a few months ago. The trailer shows a scene where Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper, in a great performance), in position to fire his weapon, sees a woman and a boy coming out of a house in Iraq and the woman hands a grenade to the boy. Chris Kyle asks to the other soldiers if anybody else could confirm if it really was a grenade, but no one else can see clearly, so he gets his answer: “It’s your call”. What does he do? Does he shoot the boy? Does he wait? The trailer leaves us wondering what happens and we only know the outcome almost halfway through the movie.

This dilemma shown in the trailer represents more accurately to me what the movie is really about. He is in a war zone: either he kills or he gets killed. There is really no time to think if the U.S. should be there or not. The fact is that they are already there. I had the same feeling when I watched the Brazilian movie Elite Squad (Tropa de Elite – 2007), which also triggered a big manichaestic discussion in Brazil about the role of the police and the use of torture.

American Sniper also shows the effect war has on people every time the soldiers get back to their families. Chris Kyle was clearly addicted to the tension of the war and had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), so coming back to his wife (Sienna Miller) and children was always a difficult adaptation. He would stare at a turned-off TV and still hear the sound of shots being fired in the war; he had the feeling of constantly being followed; even the dog would be considered a threat.

The bottom line: it is a very good movie, deserving of the nominations and definitely worth watching. I don’t think it is the best film of the year, though. The worst part of the movie for me and for my friend who watched it with me is the fact that they weren’t able to find a real baby to play Chris Kyle’s daughter! It was so clear it was a doll that is even embarrassing! Really, Clint Eastwood? No real babies could be found??