American Made

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

[mr_rating_result]

From Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) “American Made” stars Tom Cruise as Barry Seal, a gifted pilot who flew into shady territory in the 1970s and 80s. The film emphasizes Cruise’s happy go lucky persona and is testimony to his staying power after all these years. As his early film “Risky Business” (1983), this movie does a fine job in capturing his easy charm and the reckless yet confident type that he embodies so well. 

Barry Seal (Cruise) is an excellent airline pilot. But there is one problem: he’s bored. During a flight, Seal takes the autopilot off and flies the plane by himself, taking it to a sudden drop, just for the sake of some spontaneity.

On the ground, the sleepy Seal goes to the airport bar. There, he is engaged in conversation by Agent Shaeffer (Domhnall Gleeson) who tells him that he works for the CIA and that he better be careful with his illegal Cuban cigars, but would he like a job working for the US government in a covert operation, taking pictures of Communist efforts.

Seal agrees. After all, it sounds like fun.

The pilot goes to Colombia where he meets the drug dealers Ochoa (Alejandro Edda) and Pablo Escobar (Mauicio Mejia). 

They give him an offer. Would he be interested in delivering cocaine?

Barry agrees. Soon he is shuttling photos to Shaeffer and taking drugs to Louisiana and the money pours in.

If Seal is worried he doesn’t show it. He parties down with Ochoa in great hedonistic gusto. But then the pilot gets word that all is not easy. He gets his wife Lucy (Sarah Wright) to move the two kids to Arkansas.

Once there, they are hassled by Lucy’s shifty, weasel-like brother (Caleb Landry Jones) who is resisting employment. Though Jones is seldom out of his zone in playing numerous seedy characters, he is always fun to watch and he commands the  screen. 

Cruise for his part has never been more natural in his acting. This is one of his best roles.

Though there have been an infinite number of films on the 70’s drug trade, there is an unassuming spirit and a zany feeling of anarchy hinted upon by the homemade look of the film, as if shot on VHS video. It also does not pull any punches, clearly showing the hypocrisy of the drug war with a neon-tinted Ronnie and Nancy sugar-dusted for Primetime TV.

“American Made” is a worthy addition to the canon of true story films about the druggy 70’s. It has a great sense of dark fun, thanks in no small part to Tom Cruise, still Risky after all these years. 

Write Ian at ianfree1@yahoo.com