A solid biopic of cartel lore and the American government's schemes

Rating: 7/10 (2 October 2017)

I just spent about an hour searching for a song in a trailer that I don't believe exists and it could be the last song in the film but I have no idea and it is driving me crazy. Anyways, Tom Cruise's latest romp as a wild pilot smuggling weapons for the American Government and drugs for the Columbian cartel among committing other crimes is a fun and informative piece of cinema. The story of Barry Seal (Cruise) is so wild and under the direction of Doug Liman, American Made captures this insanity for a fast-paced two hours of history. The story of Seal is not a triumphant one but he does have massive success during his life. The film doesn't last too long on the consequences of a life of crime and spends ample time on the benefits. I liked a lot of the film, though the later parts of the film felt a like it lost some steam.
The story begins with Seal bored at his job as a pilot for TWA. He's flying all night and unable to spend any time with his wife Lucy (Sarah Wright) because he falls asleep when he gets home. He makes money on the side smuggling cigars until a CIA agent Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson) offers him a new job. His first assignment for the CIA is to take over a private company known as Independent Aviation Consultants, IAC, a not so subtle anagram of CIA. He flies over various countries in South America taking pictures of rebel camps and delivering cash to spies like Noriega for intelligence. These scenes are fun as Tom Cruise howls and the plane takes on gunfire from rebel machine guns. He finds success at his work but keeps up a lie to Lucy that he still works for TWA so the financial constraints weigh on Seal.
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