Gun and drama questions: scene at the end of American Sniper. [possible spoilers]

[Dragline]

Is it possible that the scene was an accurate depiction of what really happened in Kyle’s house before he left, and Kyle pointed the gun for whatever reason? - and not an artistic insert by Eastwood. Would anybody know that?

[Loach]

@Dragline

Is it possible that the scene was an accurate depiction of what really happened in Kyle’s house before he left, and Kyle pointed the gun for whatever reason? - and not an artistic insert by Eastwood. Would anybody know that?

His wife’s testimony at the murder trial make it seem like it was made up for the film. The scene or the film wasn’t addressed but he was a stickler about gun safety.

[puddleglum]

@msmith537

Having seen the movie since, I can now say that between pointing a revolver at his wife and Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Racoon grin, the movie effectively made Chris Kyle appear insane. Honestly, if I didn’t already know the backstory, I would have assumed this was the scene where Kyle went to jail for manslaughter for accidently shooting his wife.

On a tangential note, I felt that the film was just “ok”. I dont know how realistic it was, but it felt a little too much like they were trying to turn Kyle into a one man super-soldier winning the war with his team of superfriends.

Why is a Navy SEAL sniper going on all these non-snipery intel gathering operations that I would assume would be more appropriate for the CIA or some other intelligence operatives? Do SEALS do that?

Who was covering Kyle’s job when he decided to go kick in doors with the Marine entry teams?

Can military personel just call friends and family from the battlefield whenever they feel like? Particularly during a firefight? The team in Lone Survivor could barely contact their base, let alone their wives.

Maybe that’s how SEALS deploy, but the constant back and forth between civilian life and the field made Kyle felt more like a business consultant with an extensive travel schedule than a soldier deployed to a battlefield.

The Poochie the Dog ending felt a bit tacked on (“Chris Kyle died on the way back to his home planet”)

Have not seen the movie but I just read the book. He was a sniper and worked on a team where others would kick in doors and he would do overwatch. He craved action and got tired of watching others do the exciting parts. He convinced his team to let him go into the residences since as a Seal he was better trained than most of them, they ended up letting him. Another sniper would do overwatch while he was kicking down doors.
His teams would generally find a building to make their headquarters and go out from there to engage the enemy. When they were not on patrol they were able to call anyone they wanted. Sometimes when he was not on patrol but just protecting the building and waiting for the enemy to show up he would call during these times and occasionally something would happen during a call.
He had three tours in Iraq and went home in between tours which lasted 6-9 months IIRC.
I did not see the scene in question but a major theme of the book was how much he enjoyed combat and felt at home there and how hard it was to go back to civilian life after that. That scene may have been to show how even though he was back at home in his heart he was still at war.

[Dingbang]

@Soylent_Juicy

I fully agree. That scene was absolutely pointless and did nothing to further the story or characters. It was out-of-place and weird.

Side note - what did everyone think when his wife phoned him when he was first deployed and she goes “Did you kill anybody yet?” I actually yelled at the TV.

Dingbang, out of curiosity, did you know his wife as well? I can’t imagine a real military wife being so insensitive.

I didn’t know his wife but I know plenty of military families and I can’t imagine a wife asking “Did you kill anybody yet?” Especially not when talking to your loved one who is deployed. At that moment. In a dangerous situation. And you’re worried about his safety more than anything else.

Also, it’s kind of operational info. A military wife knows better than to ask, “So, where are you guys headed today?” or “What kind of action did your unit see yesterday?” They can’t and won’t tell you.

That line was tone deaf, surprisingly so.

[Maserschmidt]

@puddleglum

Have not seen the movie but I just read the book. He was a sniper and worked on a team where others would kick in doors and he would do overwatch. He craved action and got tired of watching others do the exciting parts. He convinced his team to let him go into the residences since as a Seal he was better trained than most of them, they ended up letting him. Another sniper would do overwatch while he was kicking down doors.
His teams would generally find a building to make their headquarters and go out from there to engage the enemy. When they were not on patrol they were able to call anyone they wanted. Sometimes when he was not on patrol but just protecting the building and waiting for the enemy to show up he would call during these times and occasionally something would happen during a call.
He had three tours in Iraq and went home in between tours which lasted 6-9 months IIRC.
I did not see the scene in question but a major theme of the book was how much he enjoyed combat and felt at home there and how hard it was to go back to civilian life after that. That scene may have been to show how even though he was back at home in his heart he was still at war.

It’s been a while since I saw the movie, but my recollection is that he abandoned his overwatch post mid-operation to go show the newbies how to conduct a real door-kicking.

[Soylent_Juicy]

@Dingbang

I didn’t know his wife but I know plenty of military families and I can’t imagine a wife asking “Did you kill anybody yet?” Especially not when talking to your loved one who is deployed. At that moment. In a dangerous situation. And you’re worried about his safety more than anything else.

Also, it’s kind of operational info. A military wife knows better than to ask, “So, where are you guys headed today?” or “What kind of action did your unit see yesterday?” They can’t and won’t tell you.

That line was tone deaf, surprisingly so.

Yeah I figured. Thank you for replying. That scene just really bothered me.

[Death_of_Rats]

@Maserschmidt

It’s been a while since I saw the movie, but my recollection is that he abandoned his overwatch post mid-operation to go show the newbies how to conduct a real door-kicking.

He did, in the movie. He also threatened his spotter when he didn’t want to go down and play grunt, too.