American Made

It's actually been a fascinating time for movies over the past 5ish years because there's a period of history that has started to become declassified and more information has come out about it and that is centered on the rise of drug cartels, the war on drugs, and the CIA, DEA, and the government involved in the whole thing. You see it in shows like Narcos, and movies like The Infiltrator, and now American Made.

And it makes sense, this is a period of time that was full of intrigue and a lot of stories that can't all be told to their fullest extent, even in a show like Narcos. The one issue is, when you watch more than one of these shows, you start remembering names and you know what happens in the end of one movie because of something you saw in another. Unfortunately, that was the case with me and this movie. Barry Seal (played by Tom Cruise) was a real person and he's a piece of the bigger puzzle that is the war on drugs and the cocaine trafficking business in Central America. But even though I knew the ending, I still can say that this movie expanded on a story that is worth telling and had a lot of fun with it along the way.

American Made is a "biopic" on the life story of Barry Seal, an airline pilot bored with his life that is recruited by the CIA to perform intelligence operations in Nicaragua during the Cold War. While he's doing work for the CIA, he is recruited by Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel to smuggle drugs into the United States.

I use quotes because in interviews, the director Doug Liman, has stated pretty clearly that this is not meant to be the most accurate of telling. There are events in the overall manner that for sure happened but the truth is that Tom Cruise didn't match the build or characteristics of Barry Seal. There is a lot of embellishment in this movie and it wasn't made for the purposes of a movie like The Darkest Hour that same year. It was made to be an entertaining crime thriller set in a historical setting with historical characters. Don't take this movie as historical truth is all I'm saying.

What is important to do is to enjoy the crazy stories about this character of history because I get the feeling that a lot of the stories are more true than it would seem and there are probably stories that didn't make it into this movie.

Another aspect of this film that was done really well was the casting.

Again, historical accuracy not considered, everyone gives a pretty good performance in this film. Domnhall Gleason, who I'm seeing in almost everything these days and really enjoying as well, does a great job as a CIA officer who recruits and oversees Seals jobs. Seal's wife Lucy isn't that well written of a character but Sarah Wright gives a pretty decent performance. Jesse Plemons (or as I call him budget Matt Damon) does a good job and Caleb Landry Jones plays Lucy's younger brother JB and does a really good job at playing a twerp kid who you really don't like from the get go but provides some conflict at the peak of Seal's rags to riches story.

But as per usual, the main focus is Tom Cruise.

Honestly, I know the timeline doesn't work out, but I don't really know why they're making a sequel to Top Gun when this movie really could serve as a the spiritual sequel we all need. The way they build the character and the way Tom Cruise plays him, he might as well be Maverick. And at the end of the day, would anybody be really surprised if Maverick ended up burning out of Top Gun, getting hired by the CIA, and smuggling drugs for the cartel? Sounds like the best Top Gun sequel ever!

And despite the light black comedy tone of the movie, Cruise really does give a pretty good performance. Despite all the jokes about him and how much of an eccentric person he is in real life, with very few exceptions, he doesn't really ever give a bad performance. Seeing him on screen and the way he performs at the very least keeps you entertained.

Like I said, there are exceptions (the Mummy), but Tom Cruise and Doug Liman have a two for two record of good movies in my book.

Are there problems with the movie? Yeah and I think it's a few missteps with the tone. This movie isn't totally sure if it wants to be a comedy, an action movie, a historical drama and it kind of goes for all three without really championing one or the other. Don't get me wrong, it does it right at certain times. The ending where the movie explained the historical basis for the story felt more like the ending of Animal House than it did a biopic and I felt like that really worked. But at the same time I feel like the movie could have benefited from a little more development of the relationship between Seals and his wife. There's a point near the end where the two are talking about the future and it doesn't really have the impact it was meant to have because the relationship isn't as strong as it could be. They have one funny line that connects the two of them and the rest you really have to just deduce from assumptions.

I don't like comparing movies but I would put American Made in a very similar category as The Infiltrator. It's a film with a lot of good actors doing good performances, but the story just doesn't have that oompf to really push it towards something you'll really remember. Now if I ever see this on TV, I'll probably stop and watch it and I do think it is worth checking out, I just think it's a very fine entertaining movie, but not a whole lot more.

But those are my thoughts on American Made. What did you think? What do you think is the best Tom Cruise performance? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks, I'll see you next time.