I guess Tom Cruise remains Hollywood’s most bankable star; and just a couple of months after his reboot of The Mummy, he is back in American Made. It’s based on the true story of a pilot, Barry Seal (Cruise) who was caught smuggling Cuban cigars into the U.S. agrees to assist the CIA with covert photographic surveillance of communist insurgents in Central America. In order to stay out of prison and not be killed by the Medellin drug cartel, Seal ends up smuggling guns for the government and cocaine for the Colombians.
This is breezy stuff, ably directed by Doug Liman, with Cruise bringing as much charm as he can into the role. The most interesting parts are those involving the build-up to Iran-Contra affair and duplicity of the government at the time, with Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy, embarrassingly fronting the ‘Just Say No’ campaign whilst turning a blind eye to the large quantities of narcotics entering the country as it suited their political, anti-communist goals. The rest leaves a slightly nasty taste in the mouth. Seal was not the stooge portrayed in the film. In reality, he was smuggling drugs for the Colombians before becoming involved with the CIA and no amount of Cruise charisma made me root for him.
There are good supporting performances from Domhnall Gleeson as Seal’s CIA contact and Jayma Mays who shines in just a couple of scenes as a district attorney. It is a shame to see Lola Kirk wasted in a tiny part and to see the dreaded Caleb Landry Jones appear as Barry’s idiot brother-in-law.
In the end, this turned out to be watchable, but unoriginal and quite forgettable, with echoes of many other films such as Dope and War Dogs.
Rating: 6 out of 10