Cruise and planes and guns and drug running

Rating: 8/10 (2 October 2017)

When people see the "come on" based on a true story, most know that alert has lost some cachet over the years. We have seen films like Hidden Figures and The Imitation Game and know the protagonists never quite come close to the real people, so we tend to approach these films with a level of detachment. At best, we hope the actors picked do the real people some justice. I don't know enough about the character Tom Cruise plays in American Made to know how far off the mark the film is; but let's be honest: I would be a fool if I though Hollywood "Blockbusters" were trying to teach me authentic history. Regardless of authenticity, Cruise gives us a Barry Seal who is a highly watchable adventurer who somehow decides he can flip for the DEA and avoid the Medellin Cartel and Pablo Escobar. We end with an adventure movies just a bit short of being a modern Indiana Jones who has a larcenous heart. For pure entertainment and an increased adrenalin rush brought on by chomping down on popcorn, I would say American Made delivers. I don't know why some people dismiss Tom Cruise movies because he always delivers except for Eyes Wide Shut; but I figure Cruise saw the chance to work in a Stanley Kubrick production and missed all the cues that this was a bad project. Cruise does it all here and is just short of giving us a real Mission Impossible trip. Forget your Cruise animosity, see this is a movie theater with speakers rolling you around in your seat and chomp that popcorn.