American Made (2017)

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

When I suggested to my wife that we watch this film, she was skeptical. Tom Cruise in a "based on a true story" movie about the 1980s CIA and drug trade? Really? But here's the thing: Liman has such a great sense of how to use Cruise and how to tell a story like this. The plot starts quickly and keeps rolling. The tone/approach was just light and nostalgic enough to maintain balance between dark and entertaining. The protagonist seems both morally questionable and highly likable from moment one because - well - it is Cruise. There's a fair amount of fluff here, but it is hard not to enjoy the fluff. And even harder to resist Googling afterwards to confirm that this bizarre story had more truth than we might want to admit.

Without spoiling it, this movie attempts to assign a heinous act to Ronald Reagan when he was in no way responsible. I'm not talking about Iran-Contra in general, but watch near the end of the movie the way they try to frame him as a heartless person who puts someone's life in danger. It's BS - he never did that. Read up on the facts of this operation.

I decided to watch this movie because Tom Cruise was in it, but little did I know what I was in for.Now, I can't claim to have much interest in the drug trade history of America, so the story here appealed only very little to me. But I still stuck with the movie to the end.This was nowhere near being one of the best of Tom Cruise movies to be honest. Sure, he was putting on a great performance, but the storyline was just working as an anchor here. I believe that the movie was based on real events, which just didn't help to boost the movie's appeal for me.I will say that they had a fairly good ensemble of acting performers together for the movie, though I didn't even recognize most of them. That was a good thing, because I do like seeing new actors and actresses in movies, as they are not already instantly associated with other movies or roles they have done before.This is the type of movie that you watch once and never again, because it just doesn't have enough contents to support multiple viewings.

It's really a mishmash of others you've seen before. Have you seen Blow? Lord of War? Well then you've seen this one mostly or can guess enough of the story and how it will all pan out. Not that that makes it a bad movie. Strange vehicle for Cruise, especially as he is playing a man who even just physically was nothing similar (real man was very fat). Anyhow, Tom Cruise is an everyday man who ends up claiming to end up way over his head with drug dealers, government dark arts and mass government scandals.The said character is a chancer, but knows his market flying his battered planes full of drugs or guns between the US and Latin America, amassing ridiculous amounts of cash with the idealised white fence home and family turning a blind eye. And yes, it all comes crashing down. Tom Cruise strangely plays against type but still as himself! Yet it works, but the charisma is sadly masking that his character is really no hero or friend. Maybe simply Cruise wasn't the right person for the role despite giving an admittedly good performance. Credit though where it's due as he has taken a role that isn't really par for the course of what he's done before. Although he & his wife just seem too perfectly beautiful for the roles as a battle hardened blue collar couple who strike it lucky then all the way down.It's well made and shot and often humorous, but I couldn't empathise and am certain that enough of it masks the truth, with the authors and sources exaggerating what really happened with this character. Possibly the truth was even darker.It's fine to watch but ultimately it won't grab you enough and will remain on the shelves. Fine effort, interesting story but nothing more.