Day 47 American Made [2017]
Screenplay Gary
Spinelli
Director Doug
Liman
Cinematography César
Charlone
Music Christophe
Beck
Leads Tom Cruise, Domhnall
Gleeson, Sarah Wright, Jesse Plemons, Caleb Landry Jones
Production Cross Creek Pictures,
Imagine Entertainment, Quadrant Pictures, Vendian Entertainment
IMDb 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes 87%
You never know quite what you are going to get
with Tom Cruise. His roles have all seemed the same since his incredible
performance in Tropic Thunder. He’s an action star, it’s all stunts and
guns and explosions, which is fun but gets dull fast. American Made is still
action-packed, but it’s certainly not dull. Cruise plays Barry Seal, a
commercial pilot who becomes a recon pilot for the CIA, a drug runner for the
Medellin Cartel and finally is made to fly guns to the Nicaraguan Contras (part
of the Iran-Contra Affair). It’s lightly based on a true story and Cruise plays
the nutty Southerner Seal convincingly. The film is written well as it is not a
biopic of Seal but rather a Hollywood depiction of real events. It’s a great
sound track too as it mostly uses classic songs from the 70s. I’ll level with
you and say that this film could have delved deeper into Barry Seal’s life. It’s
such an interesting story, yet all we get is Cruise’s trademark grin, some
feel-good music and a whole lot of cash flashed at us. It’s more Mr Nice,
than it is Blow. We are only exposed to the fun (except for the end of
the film of course..) and for that reason I think they missed a trick. However,
it doesn’t proclaim to be anything more than an action-packed black comedy, and
for that I enjoyed it.
Acting 3
/ 4
Writing 2.5
/ 4
Cinematography 3
/ 4
Music 3.5
/ 4
HWF rating 3.5 / 4