American Made | Average Guy Movie Review

Doug Liman directs this biopic on "the Gringo who always delivers". American Made tells the story of Barry Seal; a commercial airline pilot who went to work for the CIA flying reconnaissance and supply runs between the US and Central America. It was on these runs that Seal began working for the Medellin Cartel, bringing illegal drugs into the US.

Liman has managed to make a Tom Cruise movie that isn't a Tom Cruise movie. In recent years it seems Cruise's movies have been more about spectacle, some sort of death defying stunt to tick off of his bucket list; the Vomit Comet in The Mummy, strapping himself to the side of a plane during take off or climbing the world's tallest building in the Mission Impossible movies. But American Made is more character driven, about one man and the crazy life he led.

That's not to say Cruise didn't get to feed his adrenaline addiction on this one, because he did, flying solo in some pretty dangerous places. On the last day of filming, a plane crash claimed the lives of two crew members and seriously injured a third. But it's for this reason that Cruise is the perfect choice for this role, they share a similar spirit in that they're both mad, always looking for the next insane thing to do. You could say this is a role Tom Cruise was born to play.

The story follows the standard rise and fall arc, much like Goodfellas and Scarface. As with all biopics, American Made is about the journey, not the destination. Seal goes from a bored airline pilot to a highly successful drug smuggler with so much money he can't keep it buried (literally), a man who winds up on the radar of multiple law enforcement agencies. I went in with a basic knowledge of Seal's story, in fact anyone who has seen The Infiltrator with Bryan Cranston will have some idea of how the story ends. But it really doesn't matter, the story is such a wild ride from start to finish that you really have to see it to believe it!

This is one of those crazy tales that exists in that strange place where politics, espionage and crime overlap. American Made may not delve deep into who the man was, but it is an exciting look at what Barry Seal achieved as one of the biggest drug smugglers in American history.
9/10

What did you think of American Made? Let us know by leaving a comment below or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Comments

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning | Average Guy Movie Review

Two months after acquiring both halves of the cruciform key, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is ready to put an end to the Entity, once and for all. However, in that time the rogue A.I. has increased its stranglehold on cyber space and the planet. Spreading lies and misinformation, the people of the world are divided more than ever, and governments are on high alert. All of which should make it rather difficult, maybe even impossible for Ethan and his team to find a sunken Russian submarine and, use whatever they find there to kill the artificial intelligence that's slowly taking control of the world's nuclear arsenals. It is entirely possible that Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning could be the most anxiety inducing instalment of the franchise - the second half, anyway. Once again, Tom Cruise puts himself through the absolutely ludicrous in the name of entertainment... and a possible adrenaline addiction. Every scenario in which Ethan and the gang find themselves seems to be d...

Jason Bourne: Spoiler Review

I don't usually write spoiler filled reviews because I don't see the point. But considering my not so positive review of Jason Bourne, one of the most highly anticipated movies of Summer 2016, I thought it might be worth trying to explain why I reached the verdict I did. If you haven't seen this movie stop reading because there are spoilers ahead. Click here to see the spoiler free review. The movie begins with Bourne in Greece. He's laying low, making money by competing in underground fights and still struggling with his past. He lacks purpose which is making him miserable. Nicky Parsons on the other hand is busy hacking the CIA in order to expose their black ops programs. So far so good. But when Nicky finds something out about Jason's (or should I say David's) past, she heads to Greece to find him. Unfortunately her activities have drawn the attention of CIA Agent Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander), a cyber ops specialist who begins to track her. Using a ...

4DX – Is it worth it or just a gimmick?

Having watched the promo video what do you think? This week I saw Ghostbusters in 4DX and it definitely made the movie more of a ride. In fact 4DX feels like it was designed to appeal to the roller coaster crowd but will you miss the experience when watching the same movies at home? When I saw Ghostbusters for the second time I decided to view it in 4DX because I wanted to know what the "environmental effects" did for the movie going experience. If you want to know what I thought of Ghostbusters check out my Average Guy Movie Review . In my honest opinion; right now 4DX is more of a gimmick than an experience. The movement, air bursts, smoke and spraying water were more of a distraction than anything else, all of which felt out of sink with the movie. The effects like the strobe lights went off a split second before whatever they were supposed to augment happened. For example; during a subway scene, the Ghostbusters find a ghost in the tunnel who had been executed u...

Search This Blog