Tom Cruise returns to Top Gun territory in the new comedy thriller American Made, but with a lot more cocaine, guns and money put into the picture.
One of the Hollywood's most painstakingly constructed actors, Tom Cruise revisits his ace flyboy role as an American commercial pilot, who ends up working for the CIA while simultaneously smuggling drugs between Latin America and the United States.
Based on a true story, it chronicles historical accounts of Barry Seal, an infamous US pilot who became a drug smuggler. The movie has the Iran Contra scandal of the 1980s as its background, but history takes the back seat behind the fictionalized depiction of real life events.
To execute the complicated story in a timely manner, the plot is narrated from the perspective of Barry Seal (Tom Cruise).
The story begins with the recruitment of Barry by CIA operative Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson) for his exceptional flying skills. His job is simple. He is asked to fly a spy plane over Central America to photograph communist insurgents.
While in service with the CIA, he goes about his work not purely out of a patriotic sense of duty, as he begins running cocaine for a mammoth drug cartel. His drug smuggling operations expands as he makes US$2000 for every kilogram of cocaine delivered to US soil. The high demand for drugs in North America eventually earns him millions of dollars.
Driven by the lure of money and lacking any moral compass, he has no qualms meddling in a country's politics and engaging in the drug trade.
The film makes a bold statement about America's place in the world during the presidential administrations of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan and their fight against the international drug epidemic.
The complex plot is not the easiest to follow, especially because the movie spends a lot of the time picturing Barry's missions in the air. To keep viewers on the same page, the movie features video diary flashback clips made by Barry, as he documents his experiences on a handheld camera.
The awkward narration does a poor job in accurately explaining the timeline of the story and rather complicates things further. In fact, it is only toward the end of the movie that the flashback narration seems to fall in place with the plot.
With its grainy texture and comic book reportage, the whole movie feels like a throwback to the 70s and 80s.
Tom Cruise does a good job in fully deploying a charming bravado with a self destructive level of arrogance. His great performance steers the audience to take a dive into a wild chain of dark events and transgressions that unfold throughout the plot.
The movie tries to highlight Barry's character so much that every frame of the film is packed with his presence. Supporting characters in the movie have lifeless qualities and only serve as devices for exposition.
American Made is Cruise's second collaboration with director Doug Liman, after Edge of Tomorrow. Liman, famous for Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity, and screen writer Gary Spinelli have taken a creative license with the plot.
The movie is full of suspense that feels almost unpredictable. It is an adrenaline journey that puts the audience at the edge of their seats knowing that the story is not completely fictional.
Yun Kyung Kim
The Jakarta Post/ Jakarta
One of the Hollywood's most painstakingly constructed actors, Tom Cruise revisits his ace flyboy role as an American commercial pilot, who ends up working for the CIA while simultaneously smuggling drugs between Latin America and the United States.
Based on a true story, it chronicles historical accounts of Barry Seal, an infamous US pilot who became a drug smuggler. The movie has the Iran Contra scandal of the 1980s as its background, but history takes the back seat behind the fictionalized depiction of real life events.
To execute the complicated story in a timely manner, the plot is narrated from the perspective of Barry Seal (Tom Cruise).
The story begins with the recruitment of Barry by CIA operative Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson) for his exceptional flying skills. His job is simple. He is asked to fly a spy plane over Central America to photograph communist insurgents.
While in service with the CIA, he goes about his work not purely out of a patriotic sense of duty, as he begins running cocaine for a mammoth drug cartel. His drug smuggling operations expands as he makes US$2000 for every kilogram of cocaine delivered to US soil. The high demand for drugs in North America eventually earns him millions of dollars.
Driven by the lure of money and lacking any moral compass, he has no qualms meddling in a country's politics and engaging in the drug trade.
The film makes a bold statement about America's place in the world during the presidential administrations of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan and their fight against the international drug epidemic.
The complex plot is not the easiest to follow, especially because the movie spends a lot of the time picturing Barry's missions in the air. To keep viewers on the same page, the movie features video diary flashback clips made by Barry, as he documents his experiences on a handheld camera.
The awkward narration does a poor job in accurately explaining the timeline of the story and rather complicates things further. In fact, it is only toward the end of the movie that the flashback narration seems to fall in place with the plot.
With its grainy texture and comic book reportage, the whole movie feels like a throwback to the 70s and 80s.
Tom Cruise does a good job in fully deploying a charming bravado with a self destructive level of arrogance. His great performance steers the audience to take a dive into a wild chain of dark events and transgressions that unfold throughout the plot.
The movie tries to highlight Barry's character so much that every frame of the film is packed with his presence. Supporting characters in the movie have lifeless qualities and only serve as devices for exposition.
American Made is Cruise's second collaboration with director Doug Liman, after Edge of Tomorrow. Liman, famous for Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity, and screen writer Gary Spinelli have taken a creative license with the plot.
The movie is full of suspense that feels almost unpredictable. It is an adrenaline journey that puts the audience at the edge of their seats knowing that the story is not completely fictional.
Yun Kyung Kim
The Jakarta Post/ Jakarta
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