2017 Film Review: American Made (2017)

Directed by: Doug Liman
Written by: Gary Spinelli
Starring: Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright
IMDb Link

This one's a fairly straightforward movie, a cynical presentation of an amoral twist on the American Dream, half way between Pain & Gain and The Wolf of Wall Street, but with more planes and a far less flashy style. The political implications and background of the movie are interesting; seeing a dramatization of the build-up to the Iran-Contra Affair through the lens of only a few people while one man worked through the game by playing every side makes this worth the watch.

*No spoiler warning for a film that is essentially history

Barry Seal was pilot so dissatisfied with his job that he agreed to fly a spy plane over Central America for the CIA. This quickly evolves in to him smuggling drugs for what would become the world's biggest drug cartel, smuggling weapons to the Contras for the CIA, and even smuggling Contras to the US so that they could be trained, all while making more money than most people dream of. The film follows that same rise and fall common in movies like this and the ones mentioned above, the follow-on as each money-making effort leads in to yet another money-making effort, the returns this money means to the local society to grease palms and keep questions at bay, the peak that then brings our lead down as everything eventually catches up to him, it's all familiar fair at this point; there's even a quick montage backed by dialogue to bring a handful of new people in to work quickly, much like The Wolf of Wall Street. That said, the additional political details and the juxtaposition of Reagan preaching morality while Seal works these weapon, drug and people smuggling schemes technically under the employ of Reagan's people, as well as the scant details about the rise of the likes of Pablo Escobar, are enough to keep the film's story interesting enough on its own.

Cruise is front and centre for the entire film, and he reminds why he can do that, carrying his role with that seemingly effortless swagger yet undeniable intensity, keeping each scene interesting as he as Seal goes from barely keeping his cool in a situation where he's out of his depth, to complete confidence as the entire criminal enterprise becomes a simple everyday thing for him.

Another note about the political aspect of this film, I found it interesting just how little repercussions came of Seal's actions through the legal system. The film treats these events with appropriate cynicism, not painting Seal with any higher or lower morality and just treating the story as a result of a failure in the system rather than one individual, conscious of the fact that the worst in this story was not that he committed a crime, but that he effectively got away with it, at least until the cartel found him. Once again, the comparison draws to Pain & Gain and The Wolf of Wall Street: the films all seem to be pointing at real events and at least glibly asking how the system allows this type of behaviour results in achieving the American Dream.

The Verdict: A rise-and-fall thriller with some political and comedic undertones, American Made has enough going on and a strong enough performance from Cruise that it's a good movie, but beyond a few tense scenes and funny moments it's not particularly memorable. If you like a bit of Cold War-era secrecy and that winning formula from Goodfellas or Scarface, give this a watch. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Published August 25th, 2017