Review of American Made (2017) by Dana F — 18 Feb 2018

Huh. I'm kind of at a loss here... this is a movie about the whirlwind life of a guy who illegally ran drugs for both the Columbian cartels AND the CIA. How could it NOT be fascinating? It's such an interesting premise (LOOSELY based on real pilot/mercenary Barry Seal), I'm kind of stunned how this movie was not all kinds of awesomeness.

In actuality, it's as bland as its name. There is nothing overtly bad about it, it's just oddly lifeless and totally unmemorable. It tells the story of a guy with more balls than brains, and more luck than sense.

This guy is not a good person, of dubious moral character at best, but the movie paints him as a victim of his own recklessness. I don't know that this is a character that we should be rooting for - he is in no way a hero or someone to be emulated.

He never once takes responsibility for his own actions, and never learns anything from his mistakes. He's just kind of a jerk whose charm and dumb luck get him through. Tom Cruise is perfectly fine in the role, once again playing a version of Maverick.

.. this time with a questionable southern accent (he sure is good at playing that one character!). Director Doug Limon tries to keep it fun and playful, and for the most part, he's successful. But I think maybe that was the wrong way to go about telling this story, given the thousands of lives who were negatively impacted by Seal's greed and impulsive behavior.

It just sat wrong with me. Maybe I'm taking the subject matter too seriously and getting too deep, as this movie was clearly not meant to be thought-provoking. So I will just say that the movie is marginally fun and holds your interest, but there is nothing that makes it stand out amongst the hundreds of other movies released this year.

This is a movie that is trapped in its own mediocrity.