Tom Cruise feels the need for speed as he takes on a role that isn’t too unlike another he has become synonymous with. In American Made, he plays Barry Seal, a TWA pilot who gets recruited by the CIA during the Cold War years to collect evidence of Communist insurgence in South America. The agency puts aside the fact that Seal smuggled cigars in his old job, and it isn’t long before his new job sees him reeled in to work with some of Columbia’s top drug lords. Matters get increasingly complicated as work gets more demanding from both sides.
American Made opens with an obligatory montage to drop us into the ‘Murica’ of 1978 (kudos to the filmmakers on the use of retro movie studio logos here). The timeline, which moves into the 1980s as the film progresses, tracks a super patriotic period when the United States were all about protecting the world and fighting ‘Commie b******s’ (though the American dream remained all about getting rich). American Made rather expertly manages to poke fun at this ideology but also indulge itself in those not so dated values.
While watching the movie, one is reminded of such films as Catch Me If You Can, given its tone and content, and Top Gun, as it sees Cruise take on another pilot role. The film is definitely paying fan service to the latter. One particular sequence sees Barry take what he has been informed is the world’s fastest plane out ‘for a spin’ and as he flies around grinning and wearing aviator sunglasses, the only thing missing is Kenny Loggins’ ‘Danger Zone’ in the background.
Director Doug Liman deserves a lot of credit here. He directed the first Bourne movie and served as exec producer on the three subsequent Matt Damon-starring films so he was key in kicking off that franchise. Moreover, he helmed the brilliant Edge of Tomorrow, which, with the exception of the Mission Impossible movies, is Tom Cruise’s best role in the last decade. Liman knows how to direct Cruise so he’s at his most charismatic, and this is undoubtedly the case with American Made. Cruise’s character presents a playfulness that is reminiscent of the actor’s much earlier roles.
Fun, enjoyable and entertaining, American Made is full of nuggets of humour and smart, self-conscious textual references, for example, in one scene we see Barry reading a book on Al Capone. You get the sense that this is the kind of film you’d laugh harder at with each subsequent viewing. Aside from Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson and Caleb Landry Jones give two performances you’ll definitely want to look out. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Sarah Wright’s character, Lucy, who is Barry’s wife. She does the best with her part which is frustratingly limited to her being a devoted but nagging wife whose life revolves around her husband and children. Ground-breaking…
Still, there is much to admire in and enjoy about American Made. Plenty happens and it’s a good story but a smart, cutting commentary running throughout (although those looking for an accurate historical account will likely contest how ‘true’ the ‘true story’ is). It’s the kind of movie for which you need to leave your cynicism and pre-conceived notions at the door, but if you do, I guarantee you’ll have a good time.