American Sniper is a 2014 American biographical war drama film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood and written and executive-produced by Jason Hall, based on the memoir American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History (2012) by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice.
The film follows the life of Kyle, who became the deadliest marksman in U.S. military history with 255 kills from four tours in the Iraq War, 160 of which were officially confirmed by the Department of Defense.[5] While Kyle was celebrated for his military successes, his tours of duty took a heavy toll on his personal and family life. It stars Bradley Cooper as Kyle and Sienna Miller as his wife Taya, with Luke Grimes, Jake McDorman, Cory Hardrict, Kevin Lacz, Navid Negahban, and Keir O’Donnell in supporting roles.
American Sniper premiered at the American Film Institute Festival on November 11, 2014, and had a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 25, 2014, followed by a wide release on January 16, 2015. It received mostly positive reviews, with praise for Cooper’s lead performance and Eastwood’s direction, although it also attracted some controversy over its portrayal of both the Iraq War and Kyle himself.
