American Sniper

A movie review by Father Scott Archer

January 30, 2015

I was not certain what to expect when I went see American Sniper, a movie directed by Clint Eastwood about the wartime experiences and family life of Chris Kyle, a Navy Seal and sniper. From a critical perspective, this movie presents two difficulties: it was an immediate box office success yet it seems to have divided theatergoers along ideological lines. My primary concern, here, is to look past both of these extrinsic aspects and determine if it works as a story and a movie. Not all box office successes—and this certainly qualifies as one—are necessarily good movies, and ideologies alone certainly do not make for a good story. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see a well-acted and well-directed movie about how war affects those who fight, specifically Chris Kyle. Had it not been for the acting skills of Bradley Cooper, who brings the emotional strength needed for the lead, this movie could have gone downhill rather quickly into just another war movie. He was made for this part; in fact, Cooper obviously worked very hard to make himself look physically more like Chris Kyle.

The story begins in Iraq, with a flashback to his childhood. The rest of the movie progresses through his time in Iraq as well as his time at home. It is a riveting story and will move most to admire the sacrifices made by so many for the sake of their country. American Sniper effectively illustrates these sacrifices both on and off the battlefield—sacrifices made by soldiers as well as their loved ones. This movie could have fallen into the trap of intentionally manipulating our emotions, but it lets the story unfold in a dignified manner. The end will leave you speechless but also appreciative of the sacrifices he made.

A Measure of the End

In every discipline there must be a measure of the end in how one begins.

With this in mind, shouldn't we all want a little more for our children at Catholic school than this approach to liturgical music? The author  of this article at "Corpus Christi Watershed" places this style firmly in the '60's, and yet, it still exists in many Catholic schools.

I can give simple examples: When I first played football, we didn't start by shooting baskets or by taking batting practice. We started with sound fundamentals that could be readily applied to the game at every level.

When I started playing golf, we learned how to swing the club. We didn't start by celebrating in the club house.

I would expect a good coach to instruct my children along similar paths should they choose to play golf or football.

I would also expect a Catholic school to instruct my children in a similar manner, with a fundamentally sound approach to the faith and practicing the faith.

The underlying principle is this: Success in any discipline demands an act of will.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "If you want to be a saint, will it."

Are our Catholic schools working with the parents who want their children to develop the "will" to worship (at the very, very least to understand what they are doing at Mass), or are our schools working against the parents by leading our children to a concept of worship that checks "will" at the door and presents a precept of relativism which orders all things to Man instead of to God?

I know there are progressive arguments for every novelty, every innovation, for the demonizing of all previous generations, of all pre-Vatican II devotions, and even for a separation of praxis and theory that, according to Card. Muller, is potentially heretical.
I don't need to hear or read any more of these because they are all tripe. They are not ordered to God, but to Man and human ego. They will fall by the wayside, but not soon enough to spare my children from idiotic "liturgical" music and a false approach to worship at Mass.

We might not be able to address the problems in the Roman Catholic Church as a whole, but we can work to purify the streams which water our local pastures.