American Sniper makes audiences laugh with use of fake baby

American Sniper is the highly anticipated, critically acclaimed war movie that broke records when it was released this past weekend. The movie boasts A-list actors, a top-notch director, and, oh yea, a fake baby.

Despite the accolades the movie has received, including six Oscars nods, American Sniper is making headlines for its use of a rather distracting fake baby.

Check out this scene in which Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller are having a serious discussion while holding their little bundle of fake joy.

At one point during the clip (:41 seconds in), you can clearly see Bradley Cooper using his thumb under the “baby’s” arm– almost as if he’s trying to make it seem like the baby is moving on its own.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the fake baby has been so distracting that it made one audience laugh out loud during a screening of the film.

So why did the director, Clint Eastwood, decide to use a fake baby rather than hire a real one?

Apparently, there are a lot of reasons why a director would choose to use a fake baby including laws restricting the age of the child, the time on set, etc. As you could imagine, all these factors can impede filming.

According to USA Today, “film professionals know that Eastwood likes to move fast on movie sets and recognize that he took the easy and less expensive route of using a fake baby.”

When the topic came up last month, American Sniper screenwriter/executive producer Jason Hall joked about the fake baby on Twitter.

What’s your take on the American Sniper Baby Gate? Does the use of a fake baby impact your view of the movie?