What the best way to portray a controversial figure onscreen? I’m sure that the common answer many will give is to stick to the truth. As admirable as that is, you can’t expect films to be completely factual. Facts are a product of objectivity, which is certainly not a word that applies to any film. At the end of the day, films are films, not history textbooks (this goes for documentaries as well, by the way). A film’s chief goal should be to tell a good story, and that transcends an obligation to portray events and people accurately. When the story is about someone contentious, the best way to deal with that is to make said person human.
Enter Chris Kyle, proclaimed to be the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history with 160 confirmed kills. American Sniper, adapted from Kyle’s autobiography of the same film, depicts his service in Iraq and his struggle to balance his commitments to his country and his family. The man himself is a divisive figure; many see him as a caring and good soldier, others call him a murderer and a pathological liar. What the film should do is to portray him as a human being like everyone else: flawed yet sympathetic. Unfortunately, the picture keeps its distance from its subject, and while it’s a solid film, it ultimately doesn’t give both Kyle’s story and Kyle himself the treatment they need.
