Review of American Made (2017) by Teddy F — 03 Oct 2017

Paced quick enough to keep the movie from ever being dull, along with an exuberant Tom Cruise performance, American Made is a prime example of a film based on a true story well done. While telling a fairly serious and potentially dark story, the majority of the movie is rather upbeat, focused on Cruise's character Barry expanding operation and making more money than he can spend more so than it is on something like political corruption or the gritty side of the drug trade; this ends up being a good thing as it significantly adds to the entertainment value of the film and while a feature that is more serious and depressing could work, the more pleasant way of going about things better utilizes Cruise's ability and leads to a plenty enjoyable movie-going experience. However, because the movie does choose to go with a more humorous tone, at the end when things start to get deep, the final blow isn't as poignant as it could be. The film also moves at a faster pace to match that more comical approach and while it keeps you on your toes and the audience captivated, it may be too fast for some, leading to some confusion; confusion often loses people.

After "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" failed to recapture the energy of its precursor last year, and "The Mummy" flopped earlier this year, people began to question Tom Cruise's A-list status and his current acting ability and while I didn't love either film I can say I most certainly didn't worry about Tom Cruise's future; if you are one of those people who was questioning or concerned, you may alleviate your doubts, Cruise is going to be just fine. In "American Made", Tom Cruise is both exciting and charismatic, matching his role very well; Cruise turns Barry Seal into an intriguing character who is unpredictable and makes watching people fly entertaining. The supporting cast surrounding Cruise also does a nice job at adding to the film, with Domhnall Gleeson playing the CIA agent that gets Seal out of the TWA, bringing him into his new life, and is a bit unpredictable himself, Sarah Wright plays Seal's wife, Lucy, and is insanely loyal, and most impressive was Alejandro Edda, who played Jorge Ochoa, striking great chemistry with Cruise in their moments together on screen as the one cartel leader that could speak English; Edda has one scene towards the end that was quick and unexpected, but quite possibly one of the most memorable moments of the entire film.

Outside of the lack of an emotional punch and true laugh out loud moment, "American Made" is a welcome addition to the wild true story genre, with cool plane scenes and a lively Tom Cruise.