I saw the film. I'm also somewhat well-read on the special operations community and Navy SEALs in general. I am a civilian, FYI, I did not serve. Just an area of interest.
I haven't read Kyle's book, but I do know the film differs in some dramatic aspects:
-Kyle was not 30 when he joined the Navy, according to his book he was 25.
-He was a Bronc rider, but he left the sport due due to a wrist injury.
-The SEAL Sniper Course scenes were horribly inaccurate. Read a former instructor's review
here.
-There was an Iraqi sniper named "Mustafa", but it is unclear whether or not Kyle actually killed him. The 2100 meter shot portrayed in the film did actually happen, but it was an insurgent carrying a rocket launcher aimed at an Army convoy.
-There was no one named "The Butcher", he was fabricated for dramatic effect in the film.
Overall I thought it was a good, but not great, film. Bradley Cooper was awesome as Chris Kyle. My biggest complaints were that the military structure, command, and missions were hard to follow (who were SEALs and who were regular Army and Marines? What exactly were they trying to accomplish in the various Tour scenes?), and that the film jumped around a lot and didn't have a strong natural narrative. It was mostly just a bunch of scenes months or years apart in Kyle's life, many of which are badas$, but not necessarily cohesive. When the movie ended the whole theater just kind of sat there silent for a moment. It's a tragic ending, as everyone knows.
Still worth watching, IMO. Nothing Eastwood makes is "bad".
As far as the criticisms of Kyle and his life, most people need to shut the fvck up. First of all, have some respect for the dead. Second, unless you were there next to him during the war, no one has the right to criticize his actions or his "motives". I thought disrespect of veterans was mostly a thing of the past, but in reading some of these comments and some of the filth oozing out of the mouths of media sh!tlibs it appears this most vile form of cowardice and disrespect is alive and well. 100% of the people who criticize Kyle (or any other American serviceman for that matter) have never killed anyone in their life, never served in the military, let alone even picked up a gun. Bottom line is unless you served yourself, shut the fvck up and thank these men and women for their service. From the cooks all the way up to the Admirals. They all volunteered to do their jobs and whether or not you like them as individuals or agree with the politics surrounding wartime
is totally irrelevant. The American public is so fvcking spoiled and soft. Most of us have no earthly clue what war is like or that there even IS a war happening on the other side of the globe. We have our cell phones and our starbucks and our glib opinions and that's that. Most of us couldn't get through a 3 day camping trip without b!tching and moaning about how miserable we are, let alone be deployed to an austere environment for the better part of a year, not see your family, be asked to fight for a cause you may not agree with or even understand, only to see and experience things you could never explain to a civilian and then be expected to reintegrate seamlessly into civilian life and not bother anyone with your yucky war stories. It's a fvcking crying shame, mates. Thank a veteran for their service and for doing a job most of us are unwilling to do.
