I, too, am among those who thinks this film is rather below average. And I say this as a decade-long Eastwood fan. I will not enter into the discussion about the politics and morality of war and if the movie answers those questions. Only this, I don´t think this is an anti-war movie.

The problem I had after watching this was that I wasn´t sure what Eastwoods intensions were regarding Kyle. I didn´t know the first thing about him (I´m not American) but I feel I could have gotten the same picture about him reading on wikipedia. Although his fate in the end is tragic I don´t feel sorry for him. He choose his profession, he could have gotten out, he knew the risks. I feel sorry for his family - his wife and kids.

So what was the intension ? Did Eastwood wanted to show a movie about a great soldier ? About a man who sacrifices everything for the so-called greater good. Or should this be about the effects of PTSD ? Whatever it was the movie touches all of these points without really exploring anything in detail. In the end this movie did not touch me, it doesn´t made me want to know more about the man, it could have just as easily been a fictional character. That´s the imperssion it left on me.