Mundane, misbegotten Tom Cruise rejuvenation vehicle

Rating: 5/10 (16 October 2017)

How many more of these boy-wonder performances is Cruise going to give before he finally acquiesces to something more... normal? Don't get me wrong, he still comes across as youthful and dynamic on-screen despite being well into his 50s. But if you've followed his career for decades, this kind of film becomes something of a fraud on his part. Generally, I'd rather watch a bona fide young actor make the endeavor in the type of performances Cruise continues to strive for even though he's now within shouting distance of 60. Because Cruise is an age-battling Hollywood movie star, his presence lacks depth. Notwithstanding the film's brisk, carefree tenor, it's a stunning miscasting.
In this film, Cruise attempts to give a performance as Barry Seal, the TWA pilot who quickly becomes a hired gun for the CIA in the drug smuggling era involving the South American drug cartels and the Sandinistas. He basically flies loads and loads of drugs into the United States and in the process becomes a very rich man. He works for the CIA and provides a service to the drug lords. It's fairly interesting and decently executed for a while. Domhnall Gleeson is the bright spot in this film as the shadowy CIA operative who becomes Cruise's demanding, unapologetic boss.
But maybe the filmmakers should have done their homework before putting this together because Cruise, evidently trying to capture a young protagonist, doesn't look anything like the corpulent Seal. Ironically, this miscasting makes Cruise's effort even more ridiculous. Not only was Seal not as athletic as Cruise, he wasn't particularly youthful-looking either. This central misrepresentation is really what kills the film, not to mention a relatively rote screenplay that we've come across a million times before. None of this is going to be too egregious to most viewers. Many people would probably never even know who Barry Seal was, if not for this film. Still, it's kind of silly for Cruise to continue to perpetuate a desperate jump into the fountain of youth in a role that doesn't even call for it that much. But perhaps stardom is the ultimate source of self-delusion. Not recommended.