American Made - movie review

American Made

Plot: A pilot lands work for the CIA and as a drug runner in the south during the 1980s.
Cast: Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright
Director: Doug Liman
Certificate: 15 (very strong language)
Runtime: 1hr 55 mins
Release Date: Friday 25th August 2017

Tom Cruise lives quite the lavish lifestyle in most of his films doesn't he? He's been a fighter pilot, a spy, a rockstar, a bartender, a Hollywood agent, a paraplegic war veteran, a futuristic cop and now, in American Made, Cruise has swaggered back to the world of aviation as he stars as Barry Seal, a former airline pilot who, after being approached by the CIA, begins to fly over hostile lands taking surveillance pictures. This then eventually leads to Seal running into some shady groups like Pablo Escobar and militant armies. Throughout American Made, one observation that I found myself continuously making was how often I had to remind myself that this was a true story, or at least parts of it were. You'll most likely do this too.

I feel the need. The need to fly this plane safely at a reasonable velocity. You thought it was going to say speed didn't you?

First and foremost, it feels like it's been some time since we last saw a great Tom Cruise performance. The Mummy was subpar at best. Edge Of Tomorrow just felt like another run of the mill Tom Cruise performance and the same goes for his Mission: Impossible films. From memory, the last Tom Cruise performance that truly reminded us of how great of an actor he actually is was Rock Of Ages but that in itself was undermined by the overall quality of the film. Thankfully, in American Made, Cruise is able to fully flex his acting muscles because Doug Liman and his screenwriter have given Cruise a character to chew up and to immerse himself into. His overall look of Barry Seal might not be the most accurate in biopic history but it's through Cruise's characterisation that we learn who Barry Seal is. In the opening few scenes, we discover how monotonous his life has become and that, in order to keep things fresh, he even switches autopilot off and spices up his rudimentary airline flights while everyone is sleeping. As the film progresses, one thing we discover about Seal is the loyalty to his family and that no matter how deep he dives with the sharks, his sole ambition is to provide income for his loved ones. Through Cruise's dedication to the role and the sharp and snappy dialogue provided by Gary Spinelli, our investment towards Seal and his misadventures are sky high. What I also like about this depiction is that no one is presented in this angelic light that showers them with golden praise as a perfect visualisation of a human being. Barry Seal was definitely not a perfect human being and it's always great to see a biopic present their main character in a true and honest light. Seal went behind his family's back and made deals with groups of people that you wouldn't want to share a street with let alone enter into any form of contractual arrangements. He spent a large portion of his time running drugs across borders and the film spends a significant amount of its runtime debating the morality of this. Cruise masterfully navigates his way through generic cliches for this role and makes this performance his own so much so, it would be difficult for me to see another actor in his place. There are a few other performances dotted around, like Domhnall Gleeson's mysterious CIA agent, Sarah Wright's loving and doting wife to Cruise and the ever impressive Caleb Landry Jones as Seal's brother-in-law. My only issue with Jones in this film was his overall character arc. He may have given a sleazy and icky performance (similar to his turn in Get Out, if slightly toned down in comparison) but his character never really goes anywhere. I understand that with it being a true story, you're unable to bend all of the facts in such a way to help make a film but if that's the case, then the filmmaker should question as to whether it's worth including in the first place. As for Jones' arc, it might have been beneficial, for the sake of the runtime, to remove it completely.

Leaked footage of Cruise leaving a scientology meeting.

FACT: The small town of Ball Ground, Georgia, was transformed into the real town of Mena, Arkansas for this movie. This is the largest event of a public nature and this type of grand exposure to occur in Ball Ground's history.

Despite a dynamite performance from the ageless wonder, there is no denying that director, Doug Liman, has seriously outdone himself in regards to the flair he's provided for American Made. The editing, cinematography and overall approach for the time period is very reminiscent to Scorsese's Wolf Of Wall Street but Liman's interpretation just has a lot less swearing, sex and drugs which is saying something considering about half of this film features giant stacks of cocaine. The editing is frantic as is the pace. For a film that is nearing two hours, the time sure does fly by (pun intended). Liman adopts a very documentarian style to proceedings as Cruise narrates events via video camera confessions and in between Cruise pulling off these escapades, Liman implements these creative animated sequences of how Seal was able to pull off his daring deeds. Everything from the score to the intimate cinematography has been meticulously planned and designed by Liman and it shows. However, things are not all bright and beautiful in the land of Cruise because American Made does have its fair share of downfalls. Earlier I mentioned how Caleb Landry Jones' brother in law never serves a purpose other than to give more of an insight into the family dynamic. Unfortunately, there are a number of stars who get sidelined with a dead end character arc. Jesse Plemons features a the local sheriff of Mena, the town in which Cruise moves into. Initially, I assumed that by hiring the talents of Plemons, he'd be utilised far more effectively. Sadly, this is a waste of his skills because, like Jones, even he isn't given all that much to do. Gleeson too suffers with this. His character of Schafer is purposely secretive (probably because he was either fabricated for the film or little is known about him) but I still was expecting more from Gleeson. His performance felt a little safe and typical. American Made also has trouble with balancing all of the information. One thing you will walk away from American Made knowing was that Barry Seal played nearly every side at their own game for his own benefit. Unfortunately, HOW he did that is when things get a little cloudy. You get so wrapped up in Cruise's likeability and charm that when it comes to the How Did He Do It segments, they were glossed over. This was especially apparent whenever Cruise interacted with Pablo Escobar and his merry men because it seemed like characters would zip from location to location in an instant without any real explanation. The ending also suffers from this too because it just ends. There isn't much of a conclusion nor a build up. The film just hurries things along and guides you out of the exit before you can even register if that was actually the ending.

New underwear please.

American Made is a wild ride at the cinemas and the true stars, Cruise and Liman, shine brightly. It's exciting, energetic and you'll likely leave exhausted as you gradually take it all in. It may have unnecessary secondary plotlines that lead to nowhere and rushes through the final act but I still recommend seeing this. It's a lot of fun.

My Verdict: 7.5/10

What did you think of American Made? What do you think is the best Tom Cruise performance? Sound off in the comments below.

If you like what you've seen here don't forget to share this with everyone you know, comment below and check out my other reviews. Thanks for reading!!