The heart-pounding teaser trailer for American Sniper had so much promise that perhaps a current "fresh" score of 74% for Clint Eastwood's movie seems underwhelming. That figure will probably climb in the coming days leaving the tense drama starring Bradley Cooper with a one way ticket to the Oscars.

Bradley CooperBradley Cooper stars as sniper Chris Kyle in American Sniper

It tells the story of Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history who is sent to Iraq with only one mission: to protect his brothers-in-arms. However, in pinpoint accuracy and incredible kill record puts a price on his head, making his the prime target for insurgents. 

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"After 40 years of Hollywood counterpropaganda telling us war is necessarily corrupting and malign, its ablest practitioners thugs, loons or victims, "American Sniper" nobly presents the case for the other side," wrote Kyle Smith of the New York Post.

"Just as only Nixon could go to China, only Clint Eastwood could make a movie about an Iraq War veteran and infuse it with doubts, mission anxiety and ruination," wrote Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York.

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"Bradley Cooper, as Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, and director Eastwood salute Kyle's patriotism best by not denying its toll. Their targets are clearly in sight, and their aim is true.," wrote Peter Travers of Rolling Stone.

"American Sniper is imperfect and at times a little corny, but also ambivalent and complicated in ways that are uniquely Eastwoodian," said Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of the A.V Club.

Given the strong reception, American Sniper has crept back into the Oscars reckoning and is offered at 33/1 to win Best Picture. Bradley Cooper is as big as 66/1 and as small as 25/1 to win Best Actor and we feel another nomination, his third, could be on the horizon.

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