American Made review

AMERICAN MADE:

WOLF OF WALL STREET IN THE AIR WITH TOM CRUISE, SHOW ME THE MONEY!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Tom Cruise as drug smuggler, Barry Seal in American Made

            Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible franchise, Minority Report, Edge of Tomorrow) and director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Edge of Tomorrow) collaborate once again in the biographical crime film, American Made based on the true story of former TWA pilot turned drug smuggler, Barry Seal. Ever seen Flight, The Wolf of Wall Street, Top Gun, and Jerry Maguire? Put all those movies in a blender and you pretty much get American Made which isn’t Doug Liman’s best work but it’s nonetheless a thrilling, dramatic, and surprisingly very humorous caper thanks to an energetic yet compelling performance by Cruise and one of the best roles he’s had in a while.

            Set in the 1970s and 1980s the film follows Barry Seal (Cruise), a pilot for the commercial airline, TWA who is contacted by CIA agent, Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1 and 2, Ex-Machina, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) to fly clandestine reconnaissance missions over South America using a small plane with cameras installed. During a mission Seal encounters the Medellin Cartel and asks him to fly cocaine on his return flights to the United States.

            What starts off as a simple drug smuggle ends up putting Seal in one of the biggest covert CIA operations in the history of the United States that gave birth to the Medellin Cartel and almost brought down the Reagan White House with the Iran Contra scandal as he keeps digging deeper and deeper into trouble.

            The film also stars Sarah Wright (7^th Heaven, Parks & Recreation, 21 & Over) as Lucy Seal, Jayma Mays (Red Eye, Flags of Our Fathers, Glee) as Dana Sibota, Jesse Plemons (Varsity Blues, The Master, Bridge of Spies) as Sheriff Downing, Lola Kirke (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Mozart in the Jungle, Gone Girl) as Judy Downing, Jed Rees (Galaxy Quest, Family Guy, Deadpool) as Louis Finkle, Caleb Landry Jones (Friday Night Lights, X-Men: First Class, Get Out) as JB, and Connor Trinneer (Star Trek: Enterprise, Stargate: Atlantis, American Odyssey) as George W. Bush.

            Overall, American Made is both an entertaining movie and one of those films where you sit there and you can’t believe that what’s being shown on the screen actually happened. Good thing they reminded us that it was “Based on a True Story” at the beginning of the movie and through the marketing because unless you have a lot of knowledge regarding the actual story you’d be watching it and saying “Dayum!” every time you see what Tom Cruise does throughout this film.  

            Not to mention the movie is also a great nostalgic throwback to the 70s and 80s with the production design and camera work. The way the movie is shot feels like a movie from that era literally right down to using the old Universal and Imagine Entertainment logos at the beginning of the movie.

            But what keeps the movie entertaining is the performance by Tom Cruise and it truly is the best I’ve seen him since Edge of Tomorrow and Tropic Thunder because it’s one of those rare instances where he’s not portraying the action hero though I wouldn’t classify him as an antagonist either. You grow attached to his character and despite that what he’s doing is completely wrong you end up rooting for him to avoid going to prison.

            I also appreciate that the movie throws in a comedic tone to accompany the biographical drama genre with this movie in a similar way as The Wolf of Wall Street. There’s pausing and rewinds of the movie followed by narrations by Tom Cruise which is very reminiscent of the editing and pacing in The Wolf of Wall Street.

            If you’re a fan of drug-themed crime films like Blow or The Wolf of Wall Street then you’ll probably enjoy American Made. It doesn’t follow in the footsteps of some of Liman’s other movies like The Bourne Identity or Edge of Tomorrow but it’s a solid film that manages to thrill, educate, hit your feels, and make you laugh, definitely a worthy flight.