An enjoyable Cruise

Rating: 8/10 (3 October 2017)

Cruise has a checkered history, with stories of: his bizarre marriage arrangements, his famous Oprah appearance, and, of course, his adherence to Scientology. Originally, Cruise was liked by the public, then fell out of the public's good graces, and now, due to his skill as an actor, is conditionally liked again. It seems only appropriate that Cruise could make you root for someone as dubious as Barry Seal.
"American Made" tells the true story of Seal, a TWA pilot who got an offer to work from Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson) for the CIA. He soon starts taking surveillance photos overseas when he stumbles onto a drug cartel. A little talk of money and he becomes a drug smuggler. When CIA learns of this, they decide to enlist him to transport guns to the contras. Pretty soon Seal has a thriving drug smuggling and gun running business.
Seal is very much the protagonist, but fails as a good guy. However, the movie doesn't pass any judgment on his actions, but instead tells the story of a man trying to provide for his family while his life spirals out of control. That's where Cruise comes into play. You may not like what Barry is doing. You may find his actions repugnant. But with Cruise in the role, and despite your better judgment, you sympathize with the character.
Like many movies based on a true story, facts are certainly jumbled up for effect. The director, Doug Liman, uses the narrative not to be critical of Barry Seal, but to be critical of the the CIA and the Reagan administration, which makes sense, since they were calling the shots. If Seal didn't takes the job, they would have found someone else and we'd have a movie about that guy.
This is all background however. Liman adds a lot of flair to the movie to create the time period and to make it less jarring when we cut to the copious amount of stock footage used in this movie. But this is very much a Tom Cruise vehicle. Despite your better judgment, you spend the movie cheering for his character.
"American Made" does drag as Barry gets his business going and things run as expected for a while, but, fortunately, it's short. Overall, the movie was an interesting character study of a man with no real moral compass doing whatever he can to make money. Sadly, this film demonstrates that one can go far in this world if you don't allow issues such as laws and ethics distract you. Barry Seal seems like abysmal person, but I did enjoy spending two hours with him.