American Made (2017)

'American Made' sees Tom Cruise return to grace after the abysmal summer flop 'The Mummy'. The film is based upon true events taking place between 1978 and 1985 as TWA pilot Barry Seal (Cruise) is first recruited by the CIA to help fund the Contra Freedom Fighters in South America with guns and money only to soon find himself working simultaneously with the vicious Madelin Cartel and the infamous Pablo Escobar. Right away the film shows off its style with a funky introduction shot to include film grain and even showing off the 70's Universal Pictures logo and if you know me, you know I love me some retro style filmmaking and 'American Made' gives just enough without pounding it into your head that it's the 70's and 80's.

The film actually goes through many different styles throughout and can feel a little wonky at times. While the wide shots are set up like many other films, but then you'll get some close up shots or an intimate scene between two characters and the film changes into a guerilla film style with manual close ups and slight shaky cam. I'm not sure why they shot the film in such a contrasting way and it doesn't harm it much, but it's still rather strange as if the director of photography was unsure if he wanted a 'Goodfellas' style or a documentary style. Speaking of 'Goodfellas' and many films like it, 'American Made' seems a little too short. Many crime dramas such as this or say 'Scarface' have to tell a story over many years or even decades at times and 'American Made' begins in 1978 and goes till 85-86. That's a lot of ground to cover and it feels really rushed and scenes are glanced over quite frequently. One particular scene shows two characters questioning Barry's motives for buying up property in his hometown only for the next scene to begin and we never hear or see from those two again. I feel that a little more would have gone a long way in this instance.

Where 'American Made' shines is in its cast with Cruise making a nice bounce back. His portrayal as Barry is so likeable, but at the same time you know you shouldn't be rooting for him as he's doing wrong, but he's also working for the Government so is he really? But he's also dealing drugs so we're right back where we started. Real life can sometimes make for the best stories and 'American Made' is a really good example. You get everything in one nice little package and while it's not the best drug drama out there, it's one of the better ones and well worth your time. Hopefully, we won't see any more stumbles from Mr. Cruise for a while.

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