Review of American Made (2017) by Scowly X — 03 Jan 2018

American Made.

(2017).

Plot:

Tom Cruise reunites with his 'Edge of Tomorrow' director, Doug Liman, in an international escapade based on the outrageous, true exploits of a hustler and pilot recruited to run one of the biggest covert operations in U.S. history. Based on an incredible true story of the CIA's biggest secret, 'American Made' will remind you: It's not a crime if you're doing it for the good guys...

Review:

This movie actually didn't start off to bad, mainly because of the fast paste storyline which gets straight to the core of the plot but after a while it seemed to go round and round in circles. The main character, Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) kept on jumping into situations without a care in the world, and his hunger for money was bound to lead him down the wrong path. Anyway, Cruise plays a talented pilot, working for TWA, who is approached by an CIA agent, Monty (Domhnall Gleeson), who wants him to work for him. Basically he wants Barry Seal to take pictures of various places over Central America, using a state of the art aeroplane, so he gladly takes the job, which means that he has to leave TWA. After several successful missions, he is approached by the Medellin Cartel, who want him to traffic large quantities of drugs to the USA, which he takes on for a high price. Monty then asks Barry to carry weapons for the Contras in Nicaragua, so with several jobs on board, he recruits some of his friends to help him. With loads of cash flooding in, Barry becomes close friends with the cartel, and he starts to have problems laundering the cash in his small town in Arkansas called Mena. With business booming, and his wife Lucy Seal (Sarah Wright) loving the lavish life, the DEA and the FBI starts to investigate his business, so the CIA decides to shut down the whole operation, which leaves Barry without any protection. He is then forced to strike a deal with the agents, which causes problems with the cartels and leaves him fighting for his life. It's quite an interesting storyline, which is set in the 70s, during Pablo Escobar's multi-million dollar rein as a drug dealer. Tom Cruise was a decent choice to play Barry Seal but he seemed to be taking on jobs without thinking about the consequences, especially as he had 2 kids and a wife. I wouldn't say that it was an in depth look into Barry Seal because the movie concentrated more on the crazy situations that he got himself into. With that aside, I still found this biopic entertaining, and it was amazing to see how the cartels was flooding the world with there drugs but it's not in the same league as Blow or Goodfellas. Personally I think that this movie needed some other stars, to be in the same league as other big movies in this genre but it's still worth a watch. Watchable!

Round-Up:

This movie was directed by Doug Liman, 52, who also brought you Getting In, Swingers, Go, The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Jumper, Fair Game and Edge of Tomorrow, which also starred Tom Cruise. Judging by he's previous movies, he's a versatile director, who has taken on different projects which have made an impact in Hollywood but this movie seemed mediocre in scale. I would have liked to have seen the aftermath of Barry Seals life, which would have shown what happened to his family, the cartels and the CIA who started the whole mess in the first place but the director chose to keep it simple, which wasn't a good idea. It's good to see Tom Cruise in a different light, especially after the poor Mummy movie which was a total let down but there is something in the back of my mind that's telling me that this movie would have been better if there was someone else in the leading role. Anyway, I was surprised with the outcome but it won't be an old time classic.

Budget: $50million.

Worldwide Gross: $135million.

Genre: Action, Biography, Comedy.

Cast: Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright, Jesse Plemons, Caleb Landry Jones, Lola Kirke and Jayma Mays. 6/10.