American Made

Sometimes a movie may be less than impressive, or simply just "good" but feature a story so insane and so unbelievable that you question how it was never told before. 

I should mention, or put an asterisk on the line above, that it relates -- in this case -- to "based on a true story" films specifically. 

American Made is an okay film elevated greatly by one of the world's biggest stars, Tom Cruise. It's always a joy seeing Cruise because he just so effortlessly becomes his characters. He's easy to believe and convincing because he's complete in his portrayal of them. Here he plays Barry Seal, a witty, smooth, Southern man who finds himself in a bit of a...predicament. 

The story that American Made tells is so ludicrous that it almost demands follow-up research (or a book to be read!) to validate that it did, in fact, actually happen. Between that and Cruise, the film has some big boxes tick marked but still ends up feeling a little incomplete. 

Or at the very least, not very focused. 

All things considered though, American Made does a lot well and to a certain extent, that's all it needs to be watchable. You see, Barry Seal was an American national airline pilot that gets recruited by the CIA to fly down to Central America and take recon photos of the emerging Soviet-related camps. Simple enough, right? He's a talented pilot, the CIA offers him a job and he decides it sounds interesting and he wants to be a hero. Eventually, he gets in a bit of trouble down south and ends up running cocaine back into America, unbeknownst of the CIA. That becomes a regular endeavor because it's a lucrative deal for him. After a bit of that, the CIA decides it wants him to begin transporting guns to the resistance fighters -- even eventually telling him to fly those same fighters back up to the states for training. Oh...and did I mention that all the cocaine being ran was for none other than Pablo Escobar? The CIA knows about it, turns their heads -- leading to Seal becoming so insanely rich he can't even hide all his cash -- and eventually using him once the War on Drugs begins. 

"We hear you're a Mummy so you're under arrest!"

"Now listen here...
I wasn't actually a Mummy."

That may sound like a lot of explanation and I promise none of those are really spoilers as they can all be tied together from the trailers. But holy s**t is that some crazy nonsense! The story does its best to capture some of this craziness but I fear the talents behind the camera aren't quite as skilled as they could have been. Ultimately, something akin to The Wolf of Wall Street seems appropriate here and there are flairs of inspiration behind the camera. There are unique moments where Seal's (Cruise) narration tells what's happening or makes connections, but in general, it doesn't feel as exciting as it should be. Sometimes the moments of flair are incredibly awkward too with some of the most inconsistent camera work and editing styles I've seen in quite some time. American Made, or at least the visuals on screen, has a hard time deciding what it wants to be from time to time and it's frustrating given how incredible this story is. Me thinks that Ben Affleck a la Argo would have created an award-nominated movie with this content. 

Luckily, and as I mentioned earlier, you're likely to not care about the lacking technical aspects of the film because Cruise is so watchable and again, the story. Cruise can play an everyman pretty effortlessly and despite what I've described about the story, keep in mind that Seal is still just a normal commercial pilot. He's in over his head and has to find his way. Cruise doesn't have any fancy gun fights or stunts here, just portraying a character going through this crazy, tumultuous time of his life. It's not a performance that's a career-best or anything, but it's believable and that's what counts here. He is certainly the star of the show as 90% of the movie contains him, but the supporting cast, including another strong side character from Domhnall Gleeson, do a good job complimenting Cruise. 

"Doesn't this plane cover match my pants? Fab. U. Lous!"

All told, there isn't much else to say about American Made. I doubt it makes any Top 10 lists, but it certainly won't make any Bottom 10 lists either. I wish some more talent had been behind the camera because Cruise's casting and the story itself were superb. But you can only make a film so exciting without some true pizzazz or a unique approach. American Made is well worth the watch, especially for history buffs, but you likely won't remember it a few weeks later.

CONS

• Lacks that extra something that this story (and star) deserves. Doesn't feel as exciting, or intense, as it should be
• Some really weird camera work and editing 
• Kind of doesn't know what to do with its ending

PROS

• What a story! It's crazy and even if only the broad strokes of it are true, it's barely believable
• Cruise as Barry Seal is wonderful and it's a joy to see him with a role that he seems to be enjoying. Which, to be fair, is most of his roles
• Presents the story logically and does have a few moments that are intense and/or fun in their approach
• Good soundtrack
• Fun, light film with a BIG star and a BIG story

Rath's Review Score | 7/10