American Made
Based on the true events documented by Pilot Barry Seal (Tom Cruise), a slightly shady character who fully breaks bad to become wealthy beyond his wildest dreams while “legally” running guns, drugs, and secret intel between the U.S., Mexico, and Central America.
Director Doug Liman, and Writer Gary Spinelli come out swinging with this stylish look-back on the late 70’s and early 80’s proving that sometimes life is stranger than fiction and that Tom Cruise, when given well crafted material, is still a solid actor of bravdic male characters. Running just shy of two hours, this fast paced story is slowly measured and does feel a bit long crossing the finish line; still, this action/drama manages to serve as a crash course and inside scoop on U.S. politics for the period, unbelievable but sadly real. Strong in production value and overall shine, American Made appears to be poised as one of the weekend’s front runners. American Made is rated R.