American Made – Movie Review

American Made – R
Release Date: Fri 29 Sep 2017

Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) is an underachieving pilot who is offered a job by a CIA contact (Domhnall Gleeson) to run guns to South America. He is soon in way over his head, working for the Medellin Cartel and dodging the DEA.

American Made is an action movie with an undercurrent of comedy woven into historical events. At times, Tom Cruise’s Barry Seal feels like Forrest Gump: A guy who is inscrutably present or pivotal to some major event. The film never stops stretching reality over the top and by the end is borderline ridiculous.

That’s not to say it isn’t entertaining. Cruise imbues Seal with his charm and charisma while also giving the character a southern accent and a slower intellect than most of the characters he plays. You can always justify what Seal is doing, but it may be played for laughs or might be unintentionally ludicrous.

For the violence averse, there’s nothing here that would warrant the R rating. That’s all language.

Chris and I saw it in the theater and had a discussion in the car: