American Made

American Made was a good watch - the story keeps a good steady momentum, the direction and editing are vibrant and dynamic. It has the vibes of something like Wolf of Wall St or a Guy Ritchie film, where despite the nature of the events you find yourself rooting for a criminal and laughing at the black comedy of how things unfold.

But it stays firmly in the mode of fast-paced 'zany' without ever really digging into emotions, desperation, or any human reflection. Barry Seal as a character remains a breezy, zany blur. Its just that kind of film. I think Cruise has a lot to do with that - his vanity as an actor, having to be seen as either confused- smiley or cool-intense in any given moment limits his courage to do anything else (Born on the Fourth of July was a real anomaly for him in terms of range).

Its as entertaining as any two episodes of Narcos - but without Narcos' complexity and variance. Good but not great, definitely worthy of a viewing.

While we all eagerly await the release of the recently announced Top Gun sequel, Tom Cruise's latest slice of polished Hollywood entertainment American Made, allows us all to see what it's like when Maverick becomes a little naughty in his retirement from flying fighter jets, verbally sparring with Iceman and making out with Kelly McGillis.

Re-teaming with his Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman, American Made is a relentlessly energized and seriously fun examination of the true life story of American Airlines pilot Barry Seal, who gave up his life as an everyday pilot to not only become a CIA recruited pilot delivering messages, guns and various other treats to South American contacts, but a drug runner for the Pablo Escobar Columbian drug trade, which makes for a wild ride that would be utterly unbelievable were it not in fact based on truth.

Fair warning to all, Liman and his leading man are totally uninterested in giving a dry history lesson of Seal's exploits, as American Made sees the two Hollywood heavy hitters instead turn their trajectory towards delivering a heightened and often over the top examination of these events and with Liman bringing his Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow expertise with him to the event and with Cruise seemingly having the most fun his had in years, the risk to go for something different other than an awards baiting or dialogue heavy expose has paid off hugely, with American Made easily becoming one of the year's most purely fun and enjoyable rides.

At almost 60 years of age you'd be rightfully thinking it's about time that Cruise take a seat back and enjoy a more quiet time in his career but the unstoppable and enthusiastic leading man is having a blast here bringing Seal to life.

In almost every scene of the film, Cruise and Liman continue on with their rapport that they built in Edge of Tomorrow and Liman should be commended for bringing out Cruise's natural talents for comedy and when mixed with his easy going charisma that has made him such a beloved acting figure, Seal offers Cruise one of his best and most interesting roles in his long and varied career, no small feat when you consider the quality of his often underestimated C.V.

American Made's frenetic and sometimes scattered focus may detract from some viewers experiences and those looking for a more sombre take on a no doubt very serious topic may be disappointed but Liman and his cast's (that includes great bit turns from the likes of Sarah Wright as Seal's wife Lucy and Caleb Landry Jones as Lucy's dim-witted brother Bubba) ability to extract the absurdness and craziness of this whole situation and turn it into such a fun piece of entertainment should be a winner in the majority of cases, much like Scorsese's Wolf of Wall Street did.

Final Say –

With Cruise on top form and Liman instilling his film with a breathtaking amount of energy, American Made is a pure piece of cinematic entertainment and an awesomely fun companion piece to Cruise's other well-known plane centred star vehicle.

4 future presidents out of 5

Tom Cruise is back with a vengeance and after the train wreck that was The Mummy i can safely say that this movie proved that Cruise can act and Liman can direct.

While the narrative structure isn't always the best flowing the movie delivers great performances, an atmosphere that sucks you into the time period, and well made shots.

A highly underrated movie that i would personally recommend and a definite 8/10.

In 1978, the skilled and ambitious TWA pilot Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) smuggles Cuban cigars to increase his income. Out of the blue, he is contacted by the CIA agent Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson), who asks him to work for the CIA photographing facilities over Central America using a state-of-art small plane. Soon Barry contacts General Noriega as a courier for the CIA and is contacted by the Medellin Cartel that wants him to transport drugs to the USA. Then Schafer asks Barry to carry weapons for the Contras in Nicaragua. Barry invites pilots that are his friends and plots routes to smuggle drugs for the cartel. The CIA closes eyes to the scheme and Barry becomes richer and richer. He uses the Arkansas town Mena to laundry his money. But the DEA and the FBI are tracking him down. When the CIA shuts down the scheme, Barry is left alone and arrested by the agencies. What will happen to his family and him?

"American Made" is an American action movie based on a true story and told like a comedy despite the seriousness of the situation, with the American government interfering this time with the Central America nations. The plot is engaging and entertaining and the despicable Barry Seal is depicted as a family man by Tom Cruise that has good performance. The background of corruption, political interference, trafficking of weapons and drugs are treated like something usual by the story that can not be taken seriously. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Feito na América" ("American Made")

Very few directors have tapped the clown in Tom Cruise the way Doug Liman has. He had directed Tom in Edge of Tomorrow which was humorous and was set amidst a post-apocalyptic alien invasion. American Made is just as humorous and is also set amidst an invasion of sorts except this movie is a true story. Captain Barry Seal had the adventure of a lifetime before falling prey to a monster of his own doing. But what an adventure it might have been for this man to smuggle contraband into and out of the States.

I felt Tom Cruise did a great job portraying the pilot in an extremely light-hearted and funny way. Cruise is known for playing roles that ooze oodles of dare-devilry. But most of those roles are of fictitious characters. For once Tom plays a real man whose daring knew no bounds. Captain Barry Seal was like a real-life Ethan Hunt. Hence I feel casting Cruise as Seal was an extremely appropriate decision and should help in filling Universal Studios Entertainment's coffers.

If you were awed after seeing the aerial sequences in Dunkirk, wait until you have seen this film. The planes are subjected to go through some intense acrobatics which will please you. If you were disappointed with Cruise after watching The Mummy, I can assure you that you will heave a sigh of relief after watching this film. The film's story is not only engaging but also witty and hilarious. There are hardly any stagnant moments so the probability of you getting bored is very low.

A very ironic thing about American Made is that in 1986 when Barry Seal must have gone through whatever turmoil he did, a young Tom Cruise played a pilot in Top Gun which released that year. Did he know he would pay a real-life pilot who was very relevant during those days almost 31 years later ?

Watch American Made . Don't watch it for Tom Cruise's stardom. Watch it because you deserve to watch an entertaining and great film on the big screen that coincidentally has a superstar playing the leading man. I humbly apologize for the length of this post but sometimes I just can't control myself from pouring my thoughts out