Better than I had expected

Rating: 9/10 (31 August 2017)

I have just watched "American MADE" at the local movie house this afternoon, and I was very impressed with two aspects: Doug Liman's direction and Tom Cruise's performance.
Liman I did not, and do not, know (yet, but in this form I'll be very happy to see a great deal more of his work). His direction is steady, intelligent, sensitive in extracting Cruise's greatest performance to date, and also very effective in action sequences, and in finding humor in all manner of situations that are usually not any reason to laugh. He even manages to get hardboiled drug smugglers like Pablo Escobar to sound jocund, and that's no mean achievement!
Liman also makes extremely intelligent use of speeches by Presidents Carter and Reagan, giving the movie a firm time capsule.
Cruise I had never, until today, rated a serious actor. Today, I saw real quality, experience, and even spontaneity in his acting. It is a wonderful performance that does much to keep the film firmly anchored in reality in spite of all the unusual goings-on involving state, police, drug barons, and all manner of criminals - plus his ever enlarging family.
American MADE is superbly photographed and its soundtrack is, in turns, inspired, appropriate, and unobtrusive, allowing the viewer to stay tuned into the action.
It is also a cautionary tale, which even carries a Nancy Reagan snippet about not smoking, drinking alcohol or consumming drugs -- and, of course, not getting involved with anything that breaks the law and leaves you exposed to recruitment by state institutions that will exploit you to the marrow, among other perils.
Barry Seal made the wrong choice to begin with, and once he did he was, willingly and otherwise, pulled further and further into the quicksands of state and criminal opportunism. Hopefully, this will resonate with the youth, in particular: avoid that first step that breaks the law.
In light of all the positives above, I give this movie 9 stars out of 10.