Mission Applaudable…
It wouldn’t be summer without Tom Cruise appearing on our screens as a clean-cut saviour of the world. Just as I was growing tired of watching the actor play pretty much the same character amongst different backdrops, he has given us something different.
American Made tells the outrageous real-life story of Barry Seal (Cruise), a commercial pilot recruited by a CIA agent (Domhnall Gleeson) to provide observations on the increasing communist threat in Central America. He soon finds himself in charge of one of the biggest covert CIA operations in the history of the United States that spawned the birth of the Medellin cartel and eventually almost brought down the Reagan White House with the Iran Contra scandal.
Steering us through this wild chain of events are director Doug Liman (once again collaborating with Cruise after Edge of Tomorrow) and writer Gary Spinelli – who together use the now-familiar storytelling mode of breaking the fourth wall (as seen in similar films such as Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Street).
This fascinating biopic sees Cruise in his finest screen performance since 2004’s Collateral. This is the gritty role we’ve been waiting for.
What is perhaps the best and worst thing about American Made is the way it has been edited to appear as though it was filmed in the 80’s. The smaller screen and grainy picture was mostly a refreshingly pleasant and nostalgic experience but some could argue that it is gimmicky and distracting.
Mikey Clarke
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Genres: Drama, Comedy and Biopic
Cast: Tom Cruise, Sarah Wright, Domhnall Gleeson, Caleb Landry Jones, Jesse Plemons & Jayma Mays
Running Time: 1 Hr 55 Mins
Director: Doug Liman
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