American Sniper (2014)

Chris Kyle stays at arm’s length the whole movie, so Bradley Cooper has to do almost everything with his jaw and his silence. He pulls it off. The combat scenes in Iraq are tense and patient, and the first big rooftop moment, where Kyle has seconds to make an impossible call, is as gripping as anything Clint Eastwood has shot. Home is where the movie gets thin. Sienna Miller does strong work as Taya, but she’s mostly stuck on the other end of a phone call, and the film rarely digs into what the war is actually doing to him beyond a few haunted stares. One scene uses a stand-in baby so obviously fake that it pulls you right out of a serious moment. It earned an A+ CinemaScore and $547.7 million worldwide. A 7.0 because Cooper is fully committed and the combat is gripping, but the man at the center stays a closed door. $69 says nobody in the room reaches for the remote until the screen goes fully black.

What works: Bradley Cooper’s quiet, physical performance and tense, patient combat scenes that never feel like a video game.

What doesn’t: Life at home gets thin, and the film rarely digs into what the war is doing to him.

Who it’s for: Viewers who want a serious war drama and are ready for a heavy ending.