American Made

What better way to start the first post of the year than with a film people will soon forget; American Made. Maybe that's a little harsh on this Tom Cruise vehicle that charts the real-life adventures of pilot Barry Seal. Almost larger than life, he started out as a commercial airline pilot who is then picked-up by the CIA for reconnaissance work in South America before making extra money dealing with Pablo Escobar and his friends.

Filmed in 2015, the delayed release of American Made almost benefited from Netflix's own series Narcos about Escobar despite how little he features here because this is of course a Cruise flick through and through. Despite his beliefs, I've found the man to be a reliable lead and he takes the role of Barry Seal by the horns and carries American Made through to the finish line in an enjoyable fashion. There's no denying Doug Liman's adventure flick is the classic 'rise-and-fall' adventure we've seen before, but Cruise's enigmatic charisma and Liman's speedy direction keep things exciting.

Like all of these flashy true story biopics, American Made does take a fast and loose approach to the real facts that occurred. For example; Barry Seal did not not look anything like Cruise and Domhnail Gleeson's CIA boy never existed but it all works for the sake of the story. Unfortunately, I find these types of films do start to waver in the third act and American Made is somewhat guilty of this. The film has confront how the story came to an end and, after an exciting two acts where the director could make all sorts of things up, the ending almost sits slightly out of tone with the rest of the film.

Minor gripes aside, American Made is a lot of fun and will satisfy anyone still waiting for that Top Gun sequel to see Cruise in the cockpit again. Sometimes a little more gravitas can help biopics like this but here Cruise and Liman find just the right about of energy to make this highly watchable.