American Made is An Exciting Trip Piloted Expertly by Liman and Cruise

Rating: 8/10 (4 October 2017)

This is one of those stories that is so crazy that you can't believe it could be true (I'm not sure what is and isn't 100% factual). The fact that this guy could be recruited and get swept up in so many different cons is unbelievable. Compounding that, the fact that he didn't get how dangerous this was is remarkable. The people behind this movie could spin straw to gold but I think the movie benefits immensely from having a compelling story to draw from. You also get some understanding about politics during the Cold War. The film is smart enough not to get too bogged down in what could be dry/heavy material and they wrap it up with some style to make it easier to wrap your head around it.
I think Barry Seal as a character will divide audiences. The movie tries to portray him as a thrill seeker who had exceptional skill but couldn't see past the end of his nose. Other people might view him as an opportunist that made a fortune playing one government agency against another and he personally helped further the drug trade in the U.S.A. I came down in the middle on him. I think the movie probably glosses over some of his darker aspects but he was ultimately a pilot whose greed and attitude both helped and hurt him. I tend to enjoy characters like this as protagonists, it's not always fun to follow the boy scout. Seal ends up being the sum of his decisions for better or worse and despite his missteps, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him when they reached the epilogue.
I think this was an excellent role for Tom Cruise to take. It can be hard to separate him from Ethan Hunt (his Mission Impossible character) and I like seeing him play more morally grey characters. He's charming as Barry Seal but he never portrays him as a hero. He's not a villain either but Cruise elevates his game to sell how Seal got caught up in this success and struggled getting out. His Cajun accent is decent and he did a good job. I was surprised how much I liked Sarah Wright as Lucy Seal. She's a pretty face for sure but her character has a little more depth than I anticipated. Her performance reminded me of Margot Robbie's performance as Naomi in The Wolf of Wall Street (if you pitted them head to head, I'd still pick Robbie but Wright more than held her own). I like Domhnall Gleeson in other things but I didn't think he was as good in this. His character couldn't seem to pick a lane between being very straight-laced or being a slick double-talker and I don't think he was charismatic enough to make me remember Schafer. Jesse Plemons and Caleb Landry Jones are good as Sheriff Downing and JB but they're not in the movie for very long. I'd also credit Alejandro Edda, Mauricio Mejia and Jayma Mays for being solid in their respective supporting parts.
I was surprised at how American Made had a go-with-the-flow tone. It isn't hard to draw parallels between Seal's carefree attitude and how they decide to tell his story. The movie moves fast and it was pretty funny. They don't skate around how ridiculous Seal's situation is and they have no problem laughing along with you at his lack of common sense. His choices are taking him and his family down a path that almost everyone can see coming except him. They make the right call in keeping things light for the majority of it and I was laughing through most of the movie. But when the movie needs to show the consequences for his actions, the tone shifts appropriately. This can be jarring but I think they handled it about as well as they could have. Whether you like Seal or don't, his end is shocking but more or less expected.
Most of my problems with American Made are small and easy enough to toss aside. It took me a little time to get invested in Barry's story, the movie wasn't as strong at the very beginning. There isn't much exposition and you have to float for a bit to grasp Barry's ongoing dilemma. But after a while, I caught up with the pace of the movie and I couldn't help but enjoy the ride. The other thing is that while the ending is properly dramatic and is a punch to the gut, the overall arc of the story is easy to plot. Stepping back from the story, it follows the same major beats as many other movies in this genre. We rise and we fall with Barry and while I thought the story carried me through most of those quibbles, for the more discerning viewer, it might be hard to look past.
Doug Liman and Tom Cruise seem to be a good match for each other and they deliver an exceptional rise and fall caper movie. I love Edge of Tomorrow and they didn't disappoint in their follow-up. This is an interesting story that manages to be entertaining while sneakily teaching the audience about some of the inner-workings of the U.S. government and how they handled foreign conflicts in South America in the 1980s. I don't think this will make my 2017 top ten but I would be happy to see this again. I would encourage Liman and Cruise to continue making movies together and I would recommend this movie to anyone interested in a fun crime story that happens to be a period piece.