American Made Reviews

Following 'The Mummy' which turned out to be a huge failure, back in 2017, Tom Cruise released afterwards this movie and since it was directed by Doug Liman, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, it will probably not become a cult-classic like 'Edge of Tomorrow', also directed by Liman and starring Cruise, but it was still quite enjoyable. In my case, I actually just saw recently 'Narcos' so it was pretty neat to see a movie focusing on Barry Seal, a American CIA agent involved in the Medellin cartel. The first interesting thing was that, in 'Narcos', Barry Seal only showed up in 1 episode  so he was apparently not considered as a major figure in this drug cartel but, if you would believe this movie, he actually had a huge impact. On the other hand, you could arhuge this cartel was huge and this movie decided to focus on this American guy while the Neflix focused on Pablo Escobar. Anyway, the damned thing was well made and quite entertaining but, to be honest, it was nothing really groundbreaking. At least, it was pretty neat that to see Tom Cruise tackling something a little more risky than his usual work  but i was still too shallow for my taste. Indeed, what was Barry Seal's drive behing his actions? The taste of adventure? Greed? It was never clear to me. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Tom Cruise's or Doug Liman's work. 

Our protagonist is a criminal, and one that made a big, negative impact by transporting drugs, guns, and contras. Yet, the character is separated from these actions and is presented as a decent, likable family man. Despite myself, I found that I was rooting for his criminal exploits to succeed. In the end, though, crime doesn't pay, and I am content with that.

Based on a true story, it was interesting to see how it worked itself into the events that were occurring in the late 70's and early 80's. It humanized some of the well-known names from that time, again glossing over their terrible aspects.

Dealing with success was a funny theme. The storing of tons of cash, as well as the local investments, community improvements, and in-laws added to the story.

Though the laughs and charm is front and center, there is a tragic tale throughout. A man, bored with his hum-drum life as an airline pilot, makes one decision that could be seen as patriotic, but leads to a bunch of developments that seem inescapable. 8/10