American Made Film Review – Get Ready for a Wild Ride with Mr. Cruise

Oh hell yeah! American Made is one crazy ride that you aren’t going to forget. Written by Gary Spinelli drawing on the life of TWA pilot Barry Seal, American Made makes for a rollicking time as we see in the American Made film review.

Tom Cruise plays Barry Seal, who, in his own words, worked for the CIA, the DEA, and Pablo Escobar. American Made has some weird crap for sure. Barry Seal gets more than he bargained for while pursuing the American Dream. A good man at heart, when it came to making career decisions, he never gave a second thought.

At the behest of Shaffer (brilliantly played by Domhnall Gleeson), Barry Seal starts delivering arms to the Contras. At the height of the Cold War, the US wanted to train the Contras to fight the Russian insurgents in Central America. On one of his trips, Barry runs into Pablo Escobar and the Ochoa brothers, who make an offer he can’t resist, and soon he is flying cocaine for them to the US.

Later, when the DEA get him, to escape prison, he decides to work for the government to expose the Medellin Cartel. When photos of Barry with the members of the drug cartel are made public, he knows that his life is at risk. Eventually, the Colombians, who he doublecrossed, get to him, and his reckless life comes to a grinding halt.

Director Doug Liman and Tom Cruise never let the momentum slacken as they keep you transfixed to the screen in this rollercoaster of a ride that is American Made. Barry’s life, although eventful, is one fraught with danger. Not many would want to live such a life, and to watch it dramatized on screen is affecting.

Although American Made has political undertones to it, and those who understand politics of that era will undoubtedly take away far more from the film, there are fundamental human strokes to it that will resonate with every viewer. That is what makes American Made such an exciting and enthralling movie to watch.

Undoubtedly, with Barry’s rather bizarre modus operandi, it gets a little hard to keep up with it at times. However, Tom Cruise’s likable persona and the ease with which he plays Barry Seal makes it easy to buy what you are seeing. Like the real Barry Seal, Tom Cruise does things at a breakneck pace and doesn’t look back. Amidst all the frenzy, Barry is a family man, who is concerned about the safety and well-being of his wife and children, and for that, he will do anything. Tom Cruise and Sarah Wright kick off a perfect chemistry as the on-screen couple. They poignantly capture the personal life of Barry Seal with his wife, Lucy.

Some say that there are inaccurate information and falsification of the facts regarding the actual life of Barry Seal in American Made. However, this movie never claims to be a biopic of Barry Seal. As such, there isn’t any need for validation of the events portrayed in this film.

The primary objective of this movie is to entertain, and it does so beyond any doubt. If you’re looking for an honest account of the life of Barry Seal, then you are not going to get that over here. (To know more about the real Barry Seal get yourself a copy of Del Hahn’s Smuggler’s End: The Life and Death of Barry Seal.) However, what you will get is some breezy, suave, and pretty kickass entertainment.

Even the CIA, the DEA, and the Medellin Cartel are all projected in a lighthearted vein. Don’t expect anything too serious or dark in this movie. You can present the same subject in an entirely different manner. American Made does make a point that if you lead a life like Barry Seal did, in all probability, you are going to meet up with a similar end.

American Made has a fun and entertaining vibe to it while delivering a subtle message. Something that you will most likely keep with you for a longer time than one received from a dark film. Does American Made make Barry Seal look like a hero? Not really. The end is tragic, and if you see, even the life that he led had danger lurking at every corner.

If you are looking for a sleek, adrenaline-pumping fare accompanied by hit numbers and pretty impressive editing, American Made is got to be the one for you.

American Made film review rating: (4 / 5)

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