Director: Doug Liman
Genre: Action/
Crime
Runtime: 115
minutes
Year:
2017
Starring: Tom Cruise,
Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright, Jesse Plemons, Caleb Landry Jones, Jayma Mays
Description: The story of
Barry Seal (Tom Cruise), an American pilot who became a drug-runner for the CIA
in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the
Iran-Contra Affair.
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2021 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 22: A MOVIE WITH RED POSTER ART
Review: In the early months
of 1986, then forty-six-year-old pilot Barry Seal was shot dead in broad daylight
ins his car. Smuggler Seal had made quite a few enemies and, in the last few
months, was even less sure of his life than he already was.
Barry’s wife Lucy doesn’t know any better than that
her husband has a good job as a pilot with a major airline. It’s a good job
that brings food to the table and thus supports the couple’s two children with
a third on the way. The fact that the workaholic Barry smuggles in the occasional
batch of Cuban cigars may hardly be a name, but it does bring in some extra
cash.
When Barry is unmasked by a man posing as a CIA
employee, the game is up. Barry leaves his employer to shoot aerial photographs
for the CIA to locate rebels affiliated with the Soviet Union. And when he hits
the ground running in Colombia, he is recruited by Pablo Escobar’s people as a
cocaine smuggler.
If he hadn’t engaged in so many wrong deals, Seal’s
life story would be a suspenseful boy dream. This is also certainly how director
Doug Liman approaches the complicated jobs Seal had to do for all sorts of
people. The case gets more and more complex and Barry gets busier and is
watched by more eyes.
Liman scores points as long as he keeps the momentum
going nicely and doesn’t led lead actor Tom Cruise do too much character
acting. In his portrayal, Seal is a gutsy guy who regularly overestimates
himself. Nevertheless, he commands respect and gets away with a lot, with the
result that he takes even more risks. Moreover, this is lightly embedded in the
political situation of the 1970s and 1980s, both under Carter and Reagan.
It would get boring if we only hopped from job to job,
so the Barry’s family life is also thrown into the story. Surely, sooner or
later, wife Lucy will find out what shady business her husband is involved
with. It could cause some turbulence in their marriage. But eventually Lucy gives
in, especially when the money Barry gets becomes more and more. The fact that
her relationship consists only of misconception, lies and false assumptions in
not adequately played out. Cruise’s limitation as a dramatic actor are
painfully revealed at these moments. He shines in action sequences and grand
scenes, but the smaller, emotional moments really misses the mark sometimes.
Liman tried to make a mix of drama, thriller,
adventure and comedy. That’s where “American Made” isn’t as good as it could
be. On an entertainment level, everything is fine, but the film fails to go in
depth. And the fact that Barry Seal isn’t a very nice and likeable guy, also
doesn’t help.
Rating: 3/
5
