‘American Sniper,’ beloved by conservatives, comes up short at Oscars

“American Sniper,” the film that became a conservative favorite for its portrayal of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, was largely shut out at Sunday night’s Academy Awards.

{mosads}It won for best sound editing, only one of the six categories in which it was nominated. Star Bradley Cooper did not take home a statue for his performance as Kyle.

The movie was beloved by many conservatives and reignited the debate over how to portray the U.S. War in Iraq.

Many critics on the left said the movie reduced the Iraq War to a conflict of good versus evil. Others said that it failed to properly grapple with Kyle’s history of racially charged statements directed toward Arabs.

The people behind the movie said that it was more about the challenges facing returning veterans than combat itself.

Kyle claimed to have been the deadliest sniper in U.S. history. He was allegedly shot and killed last year by veteran Eddie Ray Routh, who is now on trial for the shooting.

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