War Dogs

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Todd Phillips/Starring: Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Bradley Cooper and Ana de Armas

Watching War Dogs; director Todd Phillips' comedy/drama about young, novice gun-runners who almost make the score of their short-lived careers, I couldn't help but be reminded of two things: 1.) Andrew Niccols' Lord of War, which deals with arms dealing and 2.) Martin Scorsese's Good Fellas and Wolf of Wall Street. War Dogs and Lord of War are only related by subject matter but Phillips' film bears the unmistakable stamp of Scorsese's influence--maybe a little too much so. The editing, the use of freeze-frame, the main character's narration and the persistent presence of its classic rock soundtrack are very much Scorsese. The based-on-actual-events morality tale of young men finding and basking conspicuously in ill-gotten wealth before greed and ill-fortune become their undoing is also a premise one will often find in Scorsese's oeuvre. Be that as it may, Phillips' film is quite entertaining; a spirited telling of a true story, which is based on the New York Times article Arms and the Dudes, by Guy Lawson. The film is also helped along with terrific performances by Jonah Hill and Miles Teller. War Dogs may not be a stunner but it is engaging and it makes a reasonably cogent comment about the perils of opportunistic capitalism.

Miles Teller plays David Packouz; a young man earning an unremarkable but honest living as a massage therapist. When we first see him, he is sitting in his shabby car, which is parked in a posh Miami neighborhood. As he tokes a joint, a security guard approaches his car and urges him to move on. Packouz informs the guard he's waiting to serve a client, then is mildly scolded for smoking pot before driving away. The scene cuts to him massaging a man, who lets his towel fall provocatively to the floor before Packouz rebuffs his pass by awkwardly returning the towel to its proper place.

Trying to improve his financial situation, Packouz tries his hand selling quality bed-sheets to retirement homes. His idea's non-viability is apparent when he actually meets with a retirement home manager, who talks frankly about the preposterousness of old bodies wrapped in Egyptian cotton. Dejected from a lack of interest and the fact that all his savings is tied up in the sheets, Packouz maintains his job as a massage therapist.

His life changes dramatically when he sees his one-time best friend; his old school chum Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill), at a funeral for a mutual friend. The two make friendly eye-contact and afterward embrace. After catching-up with old friend conversation, Packouz learns Diveroli has gone into business selling arms. Before long, he invites Packouz to go into business with him, selling arms to the U.S. Government. Packouz resists, particularly after Diveroli mentions being cheated of $70,000 by a former associate.

Packouz is nevertheless intrigued, as he visits his friend's office to hear Diveroli's detailed explanation of how the government broadened the competition for arms sales during the Iraqi War. Packouz listens intently as Diveroli relates the history of how George W. Bush's administration, seeking a level playing field in the arms market, made it possible for virtually anyone to buy and sell large quantities of weapons. Diveroli then shows Packouz the government's long list of weapons contracts on a federal website. As Diveroli is keen to point out, the major arms dealers pursue the more lucrative contracts, while the lesser contracts--still worth millions--are made available to smaller companies. Packouz is initially reluctant after listening to Diveroli's pitch, citing his and his wife's opposition to the war in Iraq. Diveroli justifies his position by declaring his business to be pro-money rather than pro-war. Packouz agrees to a 70-30 partnership, but rather than face virulent opposition from his wife Iz (Ana de Armas), he tells her the business involves selling bed-sheets to the American military. In on the deal is Diveroli's silent partner and financial-backer Ralph Slutzky (Kevin Pollak); a successful businessman who owns a chain of dry cleaners in the Miami area. Packouz's decision to join his friend is helped along after Iz announces her pregnancy.

Diveroli and Packouz (and the audience as well), become quickly acquainted with the political complexities of the business when the two men take on a contract to supply an army captain named Philip Santos (Patrick St. Esprit) with several thousand 9mm Berettas. Hoping to ship directly from the factory in Italy, Packouz and Diveroli discover Italian arms companies are forbidden to deliver arms directly to the war zone. While Santos becomes impatient with the delays, Packouz and Diveroli scramble to find a solution to their problem. They manage to hatch a clever plan by which the guns are to be be routed to Iraq via Jordan;, an Italian ally. But they encounter another snag when the guns are seized in Jordanian customs, making it necessary for them to fly to the country to free the shipment themselves. Meanwhile, Santos presses Packouz and Diveroli for his guns while Iz grows suspicious of her husband's business.

One of the more entertaining sequences in the film follows when Packouz and Diveroli find themselves negotiating the release of the guns with a Jordanian who has connections in customs, only to find their only means of delivering the shipment is by truck--a very dangerous proposition. Their driver gives them "fifty-fifty," odds of reaching their destination, which does little to gain their confidence. The subsequent drive through the desert is met with some harrowing moments as they face a checkpoint and later, at a deserted gas station, Packouz sees two trucks of armed men heading in their direction. Their escape is fraught with peril and high comedy as the driver is forced to pore gasoline directly into the tank as they make their getaway. Only the intervention of a U.S. helicopter and some Humvees keep their truck from being overrun.

When Packouz and Diveroli reach Captain Santos, they learn their journey by truck was actually a daring drive through what the captain calls the "triangle of death." Diveroli, enchanted by their unwitting act of bravery, struts arrogantly around the compound.

Flush with a success, Packouz and Diveroli's lifestyles change dramatically shortly thereafter, as we see them driving matching Porsches and moving into separate apartments in the same Miami, luxury high-rise. They also expand their office to accommodate a larger staff, who they train in the finer points of buying and selling arms. But we begin to see signs of discord between Packouz and Diveroli when the former discovers the $70,000 his partner claims he was cheated out of is actually money he swindled from a partner. Distrust deepens after Packouz draws up a formal partnership agreement, which he has Diveroli sign. As the business prospers, Packouz notices its negative impact on his marriage, as he is frequently called away.

Packouz' business relationship and friendship with Diveroli are tested when they bid on a contract worth a mind-boggling $300 million dollars, which involves the U.S. government's plan to train and arm the Afghan army with a vast supply of weaponry, including AK-47s. The significant part of the deal becomes the million rounds of ammunition needed for the guns. Finding themselves over their heads with the logistics of shipping a mass quantity of ammunition, the deal nearly falls through until they make the acquaintance of a notorious arms dealer named Henry Girard (Bradley Cooper). After a Vegas arms show, Girard offers them a can't-lose solution to their problem. Packouz and Diveroli accept his help, in spite of his name being on a terrorist watch list. Over Packouz's objections, Diveroli secures the deal.

The film's final third act is fraught with betrayal, marital woes, Packouz's near death in Albania and a major deal gone awry. With it comes moralistic finger-wagging but oddly enough, no end titles inform us of the various character's fates.

As stated earlier, the movie felt very Scorsese-like. That in itself isn't a problem but the method of storytelling has been done so often it feels formulaic. Phillips is hardly the first to mimic Scorsese and it's certain he won't be the last but we can guess where the story will go merely from the way it's told. We know Good Fellas and The Wolf of Wall Street will end badly for the characters because Scorsese enjoys telling stories with character arcs that follow a steep rise and precipitous fall, with the requisite, intoxicating brush with Mephistophelian success in between.

But the film moves along at a heady pace; the character's misadventures make the story a fun and sometimes thrilling romp. It's also enjoyable to watch Miles Teller and Jonah Hill, who are quite excellent as the respective naif and the more worldly and ethically compromised partner. It's probably no accident that Hill was cast in Phillips' film; as he was also in Scorsese's Wolf.

No development in the film is particularly surprising, as we know from watching the trailer that no film about arms dealing will end well; Hollywood's liberal slant wouldn't permit anything else.

I've seen better films of late but Phillips' is a piquant coda to the late summer movie season. If it isn't groundbreaking, it also isn't dreary or dull.

Joy

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: David O. Russell/Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Virginia Madsen, Edgar Ramirez, Isabella Rossellini, Diane Ladd and Elizabeth Rohm

Jennifer Lawrence gave us not one but two strong characters in 2015; one of course was Katniss Everdeen, while the other is from David O. Russell's late year release, Joy. Katniss was always the reluctant leader and hero of her story while Lawrence's new character; Joy Mangano, is hardly shy about asserting her authority. Both women epitomize female empowerment but though Katniss is a terrific fictional character, Joy is based on the real life inventor/entrepreneur who overcame considerable resistance to realize her dreams and ambitions.

But don't mistake Russell's film for an uplifting, sentimental, Horatio Alger story. Joy is a beautifully-acted, powerful drama with its share of triumphant moments. The film's brilliant focal point is Jennifer Lawrence's marvelous performance. Lawrence is quickly laying claim to the title of America's best actress.

Based on the real life experiences of Joy Mangano, Russell's film opens in late 70s' New York. We see Joy struggle to support her mother Terry (Virginia Madsen), her ex-husband Tony (Edgar Ramirez) and two children. While Terry does little all day but watch soap operas, Tony clings to a fading dream of becoming a singer. In spite of their divorce, Joy tolerates Tony's presence in her house; an issue that irks her father Rudy (Robert De Niro). While Terry and Tony do little to help financially, Joy finds it necessary to take on all tasks and chores related to her house; including home repairs and maintenance.

Long divorced from Joy's mother, Rudy meets Trudy (Isabella Rossellini); an Italian woman who has just inherited her late husband's fortune.

Demonstrating an innate flair for invention, Joy designs a self-wringing mop which she draws up--utilizing her daughter's crayon--in a primitive sketch. Having parts crafted from her design by some of her father's shop workers, Joy is able to create a working prototype but lacks the capital to proceed with production. Tapping into Trudy's inheritance, she is able to hire workers to assemble the various parts in mass quantity.

Before she can patent her invention, Trudy recommends Joy consult a lawyer of her acquaintance to investigate the possible existence of a similar invention elsewhere--which elicits a warning from Tony, who thinks it a mistake to involve someone who doesn't specialize in patent law. The lawyer informs Joy that a similar patent does indeed exist, which makes royalty payments necessary. Joy then hires a company used by her co-patent holder to manufacture the parts she needs for her mops.

Joy's workers create a stock of mops but she discovers that generating interest in her invention is exceedingly difficult. An impromptu demonstration in a K-Mart parking lot draws few buyers and worse still, the store management has the police force her from the premises but not before confiscating her mops.

Having taken out a mortgage to pay her workforce, Joy's debts begin to accumulate but an opportunity to bring her mops to the public's attention is made possible by Tony, who for once manages to be useful to his ex-wife. Tony arranges a meeting for Joy with Neil Walker (Bradley Cooper); an executive for QVC; the home-shopping network, at their company headquarters and studios in Pennsylvania. The meeting goes swimmingly; as Walker is impressed not only with Joy's invention, but her gumption. After Joy's awkward demonstration before QVC personnel, Walker agrees to have her mop on a QVC broadcast. But when the product goes live, she discovers to her horror that the man chosen to present the mop on air bungles the demonstration, which results in zero sales. Furious, Joy drives to Pennsylvania, where she barges into a QVC executive meeting to confront Walker. She demands that her mop be given a second demonstration, performed by herself. Walker reluctantly agrees.

After some cosmetic and sartorial preparation--Joy rejects the latter for her own choice of on-screen attire, she goes live on QVC. She stammers at first but then eases into the demonstration. Moments later, the sales display lights up, causing Joy's family and friends watching at home to rejoice. The joyous, heady moment is a wonderful moment in the film.

But still more setbacks await when Joy discovers her half-sister Peggy (Elizabeth Rohm) has conducted business with the company manufacturing the mop parts, making payments to offset rising interest costs. Joy angrily tells her sister to never conduct business on her behalf again.

The various relationships in Joy's life have some effect, negative or positive on Joy's ambitions. While Peggy proves to be a sibling competitor with ambitions of her own, Terry is a constant burden and Tony a vexing impediment to her success until he proves otherwise. The one anchor in her life is her grandmother Mimi (Diane Ladd--where has she been?); a motivating influence whose unshakable faith in Joy remains a constant to her grave. And though Rudy is initially encouraging, he shows his true colors after Joy is forced into bankruptcy when she discovers the mop part manufacturer refuses to pay for its shoddy work; a problem exacerbated by their unlawful appropriation of her molds. In a moment that calls for fatherly support, Rudy instead expresses his regrets about ever encouraging Joy.

Faced with almost certain defeat, Joy summons her natural smarts and tenacity to look further into the patent claims by the rival company. To her dismay and delight, Joy discovers that no competing patent was ever filed which prompts a meeting with the man who made a competing claim on the patent. The scene where Joy confronts the man responsible for said fraudulent patent claim is riveting. Attending the meeting with confidence and resolve--and a dramatic hair self-styling, Joy secures from the man a sizable payment for the crime committed on herself and company.

The story ends happily for Joy, though subtitles tell us members of her family saw fit to sue her for various reasons. The final scene where Joy sits at desk, listening to a prospective female inventor pitch a product brings the story full circle and is a touching end to a powerful film.

David O. Russell is an actor's director. Though plot is never an afterthought in his films; people are always Russell's main concern. Supporting Lawrence's superb performance is Robert De Niro, who has done his best work in recent years under Russell. The same can almost be said for Bradley Cooper, who never hits a false note. It was great to see Rossellini, Madsen and Diane Ladd, who all made their presence felt. Edgar Ramirez probably redeems himself for the unfortunate Point Break remake.

Russell's film could serve as a metaphor for the plight of actresses in Hollywood; who, in their struggles to be cast in choice roles, always run into a near impenetrable wall of male power that seeks to diminish them rather than allow their talent to flourish.
What the movie ultimately celebrates is female empowerment; Joy's persistence in the face of resistance. The shot of Joy walking toward the camera; looking bad-ass in sunglasses and leather jacket, tells us everything about her refusal to be anyone's fool or doormat.

Russell's film is well on its way to the award empyrean but awards really mean little in the broader scheme of things. What really counts most is a film's endurance. I hope the film resonates with movie audiences.

Burnt

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: John Wells/Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Daniel Bruhl, Omar Sy, Emma Thompson, Uma Thurman, Alicia Vikander and Matthew Rhys

With a globally diverse and talented cast such as that in Burnt, one might expect the movie's success to be a foregone conclusion but unfortunately a movie's quality isn't solely determined by its actor's substantive talents. At the epicenter of the film's impressive actor roll call is Bradley Cooper, who brings a touch of glamour and impressive acting chops to the role. Too bad said talent, which includes seasoned writer Steven Knight (Pawn Sacrifice, Locke) and director John Wells (The Company Men), couldn't pull this film off. Part of the problem is the character of Adam Jones; a hot-shot chef with overpowering bravado, played by said Mr. Cooper. It isn't that I can't buy the idea of a world class chef being hounded by French drug dealers and rival chefs while seeing a psychiatrist and being chick flypaper. But I couldn't buy it. At least not in the way Wells and Knight conceive the character. Though the film is fun to watch, its flavor fades as fast as a Big Mac, rather than lingering like the gourmet cuisine prepared onscreen.

The lead character in question; Adam Jones, has recently arrived in London after having sabotaged his prestigious position as head chef in a Parisian restaurant and slumming in a New Orleans seafood joint, shucking oysters for a living. Fed up with his itinerant life and wasting his culinary talents, Jones settles in London, hoping to assemble a crack kitchen staff for his new restaurant venture. But isn't enough to open an acclaimed restaurant; Jones' arrogance and ambitions crave something more lofty: a 3 star rating from the venerable Michelin Guide.

Standing in his way are said drug dealers, who appear often to collect a sizable debt. Other obstacles are those he has essentially screwed over; who make up a considerable number. Among them is Tony (Daniel Bruhl), who runs a restaurant in a hotel owned by his father and whose Parisian restaurant was ruined by Jones' self-destructive behavior. Jones bullies Tony into letting him take over his floundering hotel restaurant. Funding for the restaurant is contingent on Jones staying sober and drug free, which is accomplished by his psychiatrist; Dr. Rosshilde (Emma Thompson), who administers regular blood tests while also dispensing on-the-fly advice and guidance.

All that remains is for Jones to recruit a team. The film's cinematic touchstone is a famous western, which Jones refers to when he says "I want a crew like The Magnificent Seven." How he goes about assembling them might remind one of the recruitment process in said film. His fame in culinary circles is enough to attract talent though another former colleague, Michel (Omar Sy), chases Jones through the streets and gets into a scuffle with him before agreeing to join his staff. Jones' history with Michel, like many of his former relationships, is fraught with betrayal. It comes to light that Jones once deliberately sabotaged Michel's own restaurant venture, which involved a dirty trick with the health inspector. Why Michel would agree to join Jones' staff becomes apparent later in the film. And of course where would a handsome lady's man chef be without a beautiful and talented she-chef to provide eye-candy and romance for the audience? A woman named Helene (Sienna Miller, teaming up with Cooper again); a talented chef in her own right, is aggressively pursued for Jones' kitchen and as we expect, becomes his love-target.

In Jones' mad pursuit of the 3 star Michelin rating, he becomes monstrous; throwing tantrums and humiliating everyone in his kitchen. Being the best means being a perfectionist and being so means being a SOB, which the staff quickly learns. Destroying dishes in a violent sweep of a counter, shouting in the faces of his colleagues like a drill sergeant; Jones pushes everyone, including Tony, who stands to inherit the hotel and the restaurant.

In trying to anticipate the Michelin operative's unannounced appearances, Tony informs the waitstaff about their tendencies, which generates tension and suspense.

And as Jones chases the ultimate restaurant prize, we know his past will rear its ugly head with drug dealers and a former colleague/now rival chef named Reece (Matthew Rhys) and a revelation about Tony and the film's twist; which involves Michel. We also know he'll have a crisis of self-doubt, where he falls off the wagon and makes a drunken fool of himself. It all seems programmed and mapped. Or as Jones says to Helene while they sit inside a Burger King: "the problem with the (Burger King) food is that it is consistent." Ditto for the screenplay.

Like many well-cast films that falter, the actors give us something to admire when the story fails. Sienna Miller, who shares terrific, onscreen chemistry with Cooper, keeps the audience interested in her character when it's clear she has few places to take it. The same can be said for Daniel Bruhl; who I always find fascinating. I wanted to see Emma Thompson onscreen more but she makes do with the bone she's thrown.

We see the kitchen staff tend to the tiny details of food preparation, which is fine but the food doesn't stimulate one's taste buds, the way it does in films like Babette's Feast or Big Night. The food looks fit to frame but frankly, not to eat. Or maybe haute cuisine is out place on a multiplex screen?

I left the film; not with an appetite but disappointed that the story seemed so mechanical. It was watchable and an effective time-killer but it left me cold. Do all the chefs on T.V. have Adam Jones' problems? Did Julia Childs? I hope not. But after watching Burnt, you might feel cooking is a violent, degrading experience whose only reward are stars in a guidebook. What a pity.

American Sniper

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Clint Eastwood/Starring: Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller

Based on the book: American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History , Clint Eastwood's American Sniper is an intense, pulse-quickening drama detailing the life and war experiences of legendary Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, who was credited with over a 150 kills during his four tours of duty in Iraq.

Though we've seen many films about the Iraq war in recent years, including Kathryn Bigelo's excellent Hurt Locker, Eastwood's film claims its own distinction by offering us a biopic about a man dedicated to his deadly craft; who, like many who fought in Iraq, was scarred by the experience.

The film fritters little time immersing us in the action as we see an American tank with soldiers in tow entering a rubble-strewn town square. Straddled on a rooftop overlooking the scene is sniper Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) with a spotter at his side. As he scans the square for possible threats, he sees a woman hand a child an explosive device. Hesitant to fire his rifle at the child, he receives consent from command to proceed at his own discretion. Unsure of the child's intent but concerned for the safety of the soldiers below, his finger begins to tighten on the trigger. The scene is a very effective opening sequence and it lays the dramatic groundwork for the combat we see later. Will he pull the trigger knowing he could, as his spotter warns, face a prison term in Leavenworth for an illegal killing? Eastwood knows enough, with his exquisite storytelling instincts, to defer the outcome.

How did Kyle become a skilled purveyor of death? A flashback shows him on a hunting trip as a child; his father at his side. Chris brings down a buck with his rifle, which leaves his father beaming with pride. After Chris carelessly drops his gun, his father offers advice about caring for his weapon.

Another scene from his childhood shows Chris delivering a vicious beating to a bully after his younger brother Jeff is bloodied in the schoolyard. Later, as the family is gathered at the table for a meal, his father lectures his sons about protecting one's own family after seeing Jeff's bruised face.

The film cuts to Chris as an adult, leading a rough and tumble life in the rodeo as a bronco-buster. After he returns home with Jeff (Keir O'Donnell), he finds his girlfriend in bed with another man. He forcefully evicts the man while his girlfriend angrily cites his constant absence as her reason for her infidelity. Shortly thereafter, he ejects her from the house too. Her complaints about Chris not being around carries some foreshadowing, for which we see why later in the film.

After watching a T.V. news report about a terrorist attack directed at Americans in Kenya, Chris' outrage and patriotic fervor move him to visit a local Navy recruiter, who suggests he test for the elite SEALS. Intrigued by the challenge, which requires almost superhuman physical and psychological stamina, Chris signs on. A sequence follows where we see he and other hopefuls endure torturous physical tests but he emerges from the ordeal a Navy SEAL. Immediately following, we see him on a firing range receiving specialized training as a sniper.

Hanging with the other SEALS at a local watering hole, Chris meets a beautiful woman named Taya Renae (Sienna Miller). Though Taya resists Chris at first, she warms to him, and before long, the two marry.

After watching news footage of the 9/11 attack, Chris' soldierly resolve is strengthened and in spite of Taya's anxiety, he is later shipped off to Iraq.

We return to the moment where Chris rests on an Iraqi rooftop, watching the child and mother handle a deadly explosive. The scene's hair-raising intensity marks the beginning of Chris' harrowing and often frightening four-tour service in Iraq.

Eastwood paces the story and the action masterfully; slowly building suspense with a first-person account of combat and all its extremes, which threaten the body and try the mind. We're never but an arm's length from Chris as he mans a sniper's nest or when he follows or leads ground troops in their operations, which involve perilous searches of Iraqi homes.

During his first tour, Chris learns of two dangerous antagonists who prove to be the ground soldier's bane; one, a highly skilled Syrian sniper named Mustafa (Sammy Sheik); formerly an Olympic gold medalist marksman and a brutal, sadistic warlord nicknamed The Butcher, whose capture is given the highest priority. Mustafa serves as Chris' arch-enemy and the film's principal villain. Both enemies prove to be slippery and elusive and their elimination provides the film (and maybe Chris) with a quest of sorts, which gives the story a nervy energy.

No less tense are the home-front scenes, as Chris' deployments begin to abrade his marriage. Complicating his relationship is his prolonged absence from his children and his wife, who he seldom sees.

The theme of protection introduced earlier in the film is restated, as Taya recognizes Chris' motive for returning to combat is borne of a brotherly, protective feeling he has for the troops as that he once showed for his brother.

It isn't long before the tours begin to take their toll on Chris' mental health and behavior, which don't escape Taya's notice. The film handles the home-front anxieties and PTSD quite effectively. We get a sense of the effects of combat stress when certain sounds, like a neighborhood lawnmower, draw Chris' attention for reasons we can immediately identify. We also feel Taya's frustration as her repeated attempts to fathom Chris' emotional state prove fruitless. But in spite of marital problems and frequent absences, the irresistible pull of combat and duty beckon Chris. The audience is also aware of the lingering threat Mustafa and The Butcher pose to the ground troops.

The combat scenes are brilliantly directed. Though it is reasonable to expect audiences to experience fatigue from so many films and documentaries about the experiences of American soldiers in Iraq, Eastwood demonstrates that the subject has yet to be exhausted. This is achieved by Eastwood's maestro-like command of the material and some outstanding editing by long-time Eastwood collaborator Joel Cox and co-editor Gary Roach.

Bradley Cooper is exceptional, more so when we consider he isn't the most obvious choice for the role of a Navy SEAL sniper. His performance stretches his boundaries as an actor, which leads me to believe he is up to any dramatic challenge. I must say Sienna Miller has the tougher task of making the home-front as gripping as the battle scenes. Though the anxious-wife-at-home is a staple of most American soldiers-in-Iraq dramas, she manages to make her lonely suffering compelling, particularly in one scene where she overhears the sounds of combat while talking to Chris on a cellphone.

Aside from one character questioning the war's meaning, the film avoids the morality of the War, which makes sense. The story is about a deadly sniper and Navy SEALS are usually the last to question our nations motives for waging war. As for Chris' moral response to his 150 kills, we hear him say to a therapist that god will judge him for his actions.

As Chris' reluctantly wears the mantle of hero for his unheard of kill count and for saving the lives of many soldiers, the horrors of war finally weigh on him. And the protective, god-like care for the troops that motivated him in his tours, is re-purposed in peace time, as he finds so many who have returned from the war--many worse off than he--need his help.

The ending is a shock; its cruel irony would seem so contrived if it weren't true.

American Sniper is a terrific film. I wasn't surprised to discover that it has resonance, and even day or two after seeing it, it still occupies my mind.

At 84, Eastwood shows not a mote of mellow in his storytelling. It is almost unheard of for a director of his maturity to stay relevant but here he is in 2014, doing the unexpected; making one film about Franki Valli and the Four Seasons and another about a famous sniper. He may well stay relevant into his 90s'. It's quite possible.

For now, we have this marvelous film to behold.

Guardians of the Galaxy

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: James Gunn/Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel (voice), Bradley Cooper (voice), Glenn Close, John C. Reilly, Benicio Del Toro, Djimon Hounsou and Michael Rooker

It's not often summer blockbuster films meet the promise of preview-hype but with the Guardians of the Galaxy, we have one that delivers. One part action, one part comedy to two parts smart-ass make for a pretty heady concoction. And why shouldn't it? Mixing comic book science fiction with comedy isn't your typical summer fare. The odd genre-alloy offers a departure from the dreary, self-serious sci-fi operas we've become accustomed to choking on.

Director James Gunn assembles an oddball cast that in many ways isn't unlike the misfit mercenaries portrayed onscreen. Peter Quill/Starlord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (wrestler Dave Bautista), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) are a ragtag group who all are brought together from different parts of the galaxy to search for an orb that contains uspeakable power.

Peter, group leader by default, was abducted by a blue-skinned alien named Yondu Odanta (Michael Rooker) when he was 6 years old. Yondu leads a fortune-hunting organization that operates outside (and sometimes within) the reach of the law. Peter becomes an operative of said organization, maturing into a Han Solo-like outlaw with a contempt for the law and authority. Gamora, an alien beauty whose parents were killed by a merciless creep named Ronan, seeks revenge though her blue-skinned sister allies herself with him to seek and obtain the orb for an even bigger creep named Kraglin. Gamora hopes to find the orb before Ronan and her sister can appropriate it for evil ends, which brings her into Peter's orbit.

Joining Peter and Gamora is a genetically-engineered raccoon named Rocket, whose outsize attitude is inversely proportional to his bodily proportions. His travelling companion and partner is Groot; a tall, tree-like being whose limited vocabulary solely consists of I am Groot though his subtle inflections allow Rocket to translate the alien's one phrase. Rounding out this motley crew is Drax, a bald, strong-man with a strange array of patterns on his skin. While Rocket and Groot's interest in the orb is strictly monetary, Drax joins the search because it is a means to confronting Ronan, who murdered his family. Together, the group hopes to stop Ronan from using the orb's power to menace the galaxy, hence the group's appellation as Guardians of the Galaxy. Their roles as unlikely saviors is kind of a running gag.

Though the orb is directly or indirectly the reason for their assemblage, the loss of family, the betrayal of family and the search for something like a family are what partially unifies the group.

The banter that passes between the group members is often funny as are the hapless situations they can't seem to avoid. Rocket barely endures teasing about being a Raccoon, while Drax's literal interpretations of expressions like "it will pass over your head" can be pretty amusing. Peter always carries a music cassette; a prized keepsake his mother made for him which creates a kind of soundtrack to his life. It's also makes up most of the soundtrack to the film, as 70s' pop tunes like Hooked on a Feeling and The Runaways' Cherry Bomb serve as light, comic counterpoint to the interstellar mayhem playing out onscreen.

Chris Pratt establishes his leading man bona fides in his career-making role; showcasing his comedic aptitude while Zoe Saldana's sex appeal and bad-ass martial arts are sometimes checked by the weary exasperation she often feels for the group. Bradley Cooper gives Rocket a tough but funny personality while the unrecognizable voice of Vin Diesel lends some sensitivity to the character of Groot.

The film always works best when its tongue is pressed firmly in cheek. Action scenes are wisely leavened with the humor, which is really the source of the film's appeal. The comedic moments always seem to make an appearance when we need them, keeping the film from degenerating into mere space battle racket and dreary, overly serious gun-play.

The titles before the closing credits herald the beginning of a franchise, which renders the film's explosive weekend box office returns almost irrelevent. How many will follow is always the question but as we all know, corporate Hollywood never troubles itself with such concerns; it just sends the blueprint to the assembly line. If the film's offspring can match Guardians of the Galaxy's irreverence and light-hearted charm, then I won't mind a bit.