MPAA Rating: R/Genre: Action Comedy/Stars: Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright, Jesse Plemons, Caleb Landry Jones, Jayma Mays, Lola Kirke, Connor Trinneer, Mauricio Mejía, Alejandro Edda, Benito Martinez, Fredy Yate, E. Roger Mitchell, Jed Rees, William Mark McCullough/Runtime: 115 minutes
I think it is quite the safe bet to make that if the land of movie magic really aspired to, they could easily make a grim, dark, and fairly bloody adaptation of the saga of one Barry Seal. Of course seeing as this is a pilot who found himself getting recruited by both Pablo Escobar and the CIA to engage in operations for them ranging from narcotic and firearm smuggling to pretty significant money laundering I guess that makes sense. However I should also tell you now that the movie I am reviewing today, 2017’s American Made, is most assuredly not that movie. Indeed make no mistake dear reader: there have been quite a few slices of cinema similar to this one which regales for us the story of a seemingly ordinary guy who come across a shady opportunity that then helps them accrue immense wealth that quickly spirals out of control during a distinct period of time in history. Of course, all of those other slices of cinema weren’t helmed by the director of Mr. and Mrs. Smith nor did they have movie icon Tom Cruise in the lead role. No it might not be the best of the best by either of these two individuals nor is it even the best in its distinct section of movie magic. At the same time however, there is an energy and style to this one from both its director and especially its lead actor that really helps to distinguish it and as a result also ensures that American Made really is just a lively and zany time to be had plain and simple.
The plot is as follows: American Made tells the story of a good ol’ boy by the name of Barry Seal. A guy who, among other noteworthy attributes that could most likely be mentioned, is a daredevil pilot operating the skies for a little airline by the name of TWA. At the same time, he is also a man who has found himself in a bit of a rut in terms of his professional life. This is because while at one time this wonderfully sleazy individual was the youngest pilot that TWA brought onboard to join their organization, and therefore seen by many as being full of potential and capable of great things, at some point Mr. Seal caught an extremely terminal case of both boredom and yearning for more out of life. As a result, this is now a guy who in the air keeps himself awake on some of his lengthier and draining flights by thrashing the plane from side to side thereby scaring the ever-loving heck out of those flying with him and on the ground is constantly looking for opportunities to make life better for his family and more exciting for himself. Suffice it to say that if you knock on opportunity’s door, eventually opportunity shall answer. A lesson that our intrepid hero soon comes to learn when he finds himself engaged in conversation with a younger guy by the name of Monty Schafer who in no time flat not only reveals himself to be an agent with the CIA, but who presents our titular hero with an opportunity to aid his government by taking on aerial recon missions over specific locales in Central America. Suffice it to say that it should come as no surprise to learn that, due to a mix of being given the chance to fly a really cool aircraft as well as being able to get out of the day to day doldrums very much present in his current job, our hero eagerly accepts this offer even if he has no idea how much it is about to change his life. A fact that quickly becomes apparent when he inadvertently makes friends with people in Central America whose interests aren’t exactly in Barry’s aerial photo taking skills and more in his clearly high level of flying talent in order to get their interests where they are supposed to go. As a result, we see it isn’t long before our hero is not only getting the photos his CIA handler wants, but he is also getting weapons to resistance fighters being covertly backed by the U.S. government and also smuggling drugs back to the States on behalf of some of the more infamous cartel leaders south of the border. It also should come as no surprise to learn that while these pursuits also see our hero becoming fabulously wealthy, they also come with the caveat of often getting away with a lot of questionable in terms of legality behavior. Of course it isn’t long before we see that this whole scheme has quickly turned into a chess match with our hero on one side and his handlers in both the cartels and U.S. government on the other. Yet unlike a lot of other cinematic chess matches not only is there no clear path to victory for anyone, but there is no guarantee that anyone involved, even our hero, will be left unscathed by the time this all comes to a screeching halt……
Now despite being a fairly easy sit, due to clocking at 5 minutes shy of a couple of hours (credits included), this slice of cinema is one that I can easily tell you is very much meant to be Doug Liman’s cinematic equivalent to Scorsese’s masterpiece GoodFellas from 1990. By that I mean this slice of cinema is one that makes the narrative choice to showcase for us the spectacular ascent and descent of a less than legal business model that saw piles upon piles of money being made and a time of prosperity being had, but also grim peril and horrific brutality quickly appearing on the horizon. Suffice it to say it is not that difficult to see why the land of movie magic was compelled to give us a take on this narrative even if the movie does seem crippled to an extent due to a quasi-sorta sense of hero worship in regards to its main character who was by no means a pillar of ethics. Thankfully, not only is American Made able to make up for this courtesy of an absolutely wonderful filming style from helmer Doug Liman that makes the film seem more like a documentary than a fictional retelling, but also by making the brilliant choices to keep everything consistently on the move and also ensure that the proceedings are gifted with both a fairly sneaky sense of humor as well as a fondness for those people who are awful at making decisions respectively. As a result, we see that this slice of cinema is able to use these components to keep its helmer occupied with showing us how flawed of a guy Barry is to say nothing of his various shenanigans which eventually make the transition into quite dire by film’s end. Yet up until then it should be noted that this slice of cinema is very much the dictionary definition of a dark comedy that this film establishes fairly right off the bat courtesy of Barry’s flying shenanigans while transporting passengers as a pilot at TWA. From there we see that this slice of cinema’s first half does seem to really enjoy itself courtesy of showing not only Barry’s joy at his new assignments, but also the moments where he is fired on by the Sandinistas and his riveting back and forths with Escobar and his crew involving the business deal he makes with them that he takes on in addition to his duties with the CIA. Duties which soon graduate from simply taking photos to covertly transporting Central American rebels to Arkansas of all places for top-secret military training. Yet in case there is ever a point where it feels like you are caught in a blizzard of info and have no idea who is who or what is going on, we see that this film’s helmer does a wonderful job of making sure that every single party who is involved, every objective that they are trying to accomplish, the obviously boneheaded politics, and every degree of cultural intricacies is made crystal clear for you, the viewer thus making everything a heck of a lot easier to follow. Finally, I guess one could make the argument (and understandably so) that perhaps the politics that are an inherent part to this slice of cinema’s narrative might make this not the easiest sit in the world for them and I respect that. At the same time however, I think it still can be if you are willing to do your own research either before or after you watch the film. Make of that what you will.
Now in terms of acting, I am now convinced more than ever after viewing this slice of cinema that Tom Cruise needs to work with Doug Liman way more often if for no other reason than Liman really is a helmer that knows how to bring out the best in his lead actor and that is most definitely the case here as Cruise is phenomenal in a real test of his acting ability. Yes Cruise has been great in his Mission: Impossible series of films, but that’s one role that Cruise could do with both eyes closed and both hands behind his back. Also he wasn’t too bad in the first Jack Reacher film from 2012, but again that wasn’t too difficult for him to pull off for pretty much the same reason. Now I am someone who, surprise surprise, did really dig the heck out of his role in 2012’s Rock of Ages, but that was in all fairness a supporting role. Finally, yes I suppose you could try (key word being try) to claim that he is playing someone other than himself in The Mummy also from 2017, but I really have no interest in discussing that abomination. Thankfully his work in this slice of cinema proves to be a wonderful reminder that, with the right material, Cruise can still do that acting thing he did so well in movies like Collateral and A Few Good Men. Indeed Cruise in this gives us a character who may approach things with a good ol’ country boy vibe to him, but is still a man who wants nothing more than to live life to the fullest and give his family the best life possible along the way. More than that, we also see Cruise make the wonderful creative decision to have Barry at any point in time be either the biggest moron or the biggest genius you’ve ever seen which adds to the level of enjoying this film immensely. Suffice it to say that this is a guy who is just thrilled to be doing something this cool, legality aside, and Cruise delivers that and so much more in one heck of a performance that is one of the better stretches of his range that had been seen up to that point.
In addition to Cruise, we also get a collection of good but not great support performances starting with Domhnall Gleeson who is brilliant in his role as Barry’s congenial yet also deceptive and ice-cold at times CIA handler Monty. Indeed Gleeson does a great job at not only delivering dialogue that could send a shiver down a person’s spine, but also showing that the reason this guy is so cutthroat is because he is a mid-level employee who is desperately trying to distinguish himself with the boss so he can get out of the cubicle maze he’s trapped in. We also see that, in that way only Hollywood can seemingly justify, the film makes the choice to pair up the (at the time) mid-50s Cruise with the (also at the time) mid-30s Sarah Wright and while she isn’t terrible in this film her character really doesn’t have much in the way of three-dimensional characterization as well. Indeed the character of Lucy is one that can best be summed up as the clichéd wife who begins the movie with no knowledge of her husband’s activities, becomes angry when she finds out, starts to accept them due to the amount of money rolling in, and eventually finds herself coming to really regret the decisions she has made through the course of the movie up to that point. In other words she is operating very much as this slice of cinema’s equivalent to work done by Lorraine Bracco in 1990’s criminal masterpiece GoodFellas and as such she’s good, but she also doesn’t really bring anything new to the table either. We also get a late third quarter appearance in this from Caleb Landry Jones who does a slimy good job as Barry’s brother-in-law JB even though we know exactly what his character is going to bring to the cinematic table the moment we lay eyes on him. Unfortunately, I wish the same could be said for the eternally delightful Jesse Plemons who pops up throughout as the sheriff of the town Barry and his family move to. It’s not that Plemons is bad, but rather it’s because he is given nothing to do. Indeed it’s almost like this is a character who at one point may have had more to do, but wound up having those moments cut out when it came time to edit and trim the finished film. As such, the support performances in this aren’t bad, but boy could they have been a lot better.
All in all is American Made a genuinely great slice of cinema? Honestly I think so though that is something that I feel depends on what constitutes as your definition of “great”. At the same time though, is this slice of cinema entertaining as hell? Oh absolutely! Without question! Indeed it may give us a narrative canvas that is as time-honored as cinema itself, but where American Made soars is how it manages to thread its narrative in such a manner that is not only novel and intriguing, but also that permits it to convey something that feels eerily timely. That and this is a slice of cinema that manages to allow movie icon Tom Cruise to win us over in actually liking a sleazy character without once asking us to side with him. A feat that not only is incredibly difficult to achieve in cinema, but one that only a handful of actors (Cruise included) are skilled enough to execute. Suffice it to say that it may have its flaws especially in the co-star department, but American Made is still easily one high-flying true crime saga that you should definitely check out if given the chance. Make of that therefore what thou will dear reader. On a scale of 1-5 I give American Made “2017” a solid 4 out of 5.
