American Made

The drug trade during the 1980s portrayed in media typically presents the rise and fall of the operation at hand, whether it's fictional or based on a true story. The usual factors into crime dramas include the financial prospects introduced to the main protagonist, an illegal operation created to generate money, a montage of using wealth gained from criminal dealings for shenanigans, using strategies to avoid law enforcement before a slip-up begins a downward slope, main lead being given either a long prison sentence or ending up being killed in a shootout/assassinated, members of the organized group getting away from police/federal agents in pursuit of them, and considering the historical implications of the activities taking place throughout the journey. There are a good handful of these crime films worth checking out such as Pulp Fiction, Memento, Scarface, The Godfather, The Shawshank Redemption, The Town, and Reservoir Dogs. This brings us to a new entry for the genre, American Made, which is based on the true story of a TWA pilot whose actions led to Iran Contra scandal that nearly brought down the Reagan White House. The marketing campaign showed Tom Cruise in the leading role and the fun tone around the dangerous entanglements he gets into. The critical reception has been positive but it hasn't had much buzz going around so I went in ready to see how they would portray these events and I left the auditorium having had a good time with the style and energy American Made provided.

Plot: The story follows the true events of a TWA pilot who worked reconnaissance missions for the CIA and became a drug smuggler for the Medellin Cartel, causing a chain of events that led to the Iran Contra affair. It moves at a fair fast pace as the main character narrates the events including the state of the world along the way. It carries a fun tone to distract the fact that almost everyone here is a scumbag criminal doing what they can to avoid law enforcement. It's also interesting in observing how the main character expanded his operations from using intel provided by his contacts and the areas he interacts with to his advantage. There are moments where one or two little scenes could have been left out either to be replaced by a dark scene with the dangers of his activities or to help the runtime a bit (it doesn't drag and is fairly smooth for being being just under 2 hours but that length can be felt). Despite this being "based on a true story", it does play around with the timing of certain events and lies about certain parts by adding scenes that never happened or showing him meeting Pablo Escobar more than once, though it manages to give an overall summary of the events being told. Overall while American Made's plot follows the events leading to the aforementioned scandal accompanied by a light tone with darkness moments save in the third act, there are scenes that stretch the runtime

Characters: The main characters to focus on are Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) and Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson). Barry Seal is a greedy selfish smuggler pilot who worked for the CIA and moved illegal products for the Medellin Cartel. Tom Cruise does a great portrayal a greedy, charismatic, thrill-seeking, smooth-talking, self-absorbed individual who doesn't take into consideration any of the potential problems his dealings can bring to those in his life (while giving one of his best performances in recent years). "Monty Schafer" is a CIA case officer who was a main contact for Barry's missions (technically a fictional character being a representation of his CIA contacts). Domhnall also gives a great charismatic performance as this alluring conniving agent whose appearance is essentially the devil whenever on-screen. Honorable mentions go to Lucy Seal (Sarah Wright) and JB (Caleb Landry Jones) for the former bringing a good portrayal as the only good person who doesn't trust Barry due to his shenanigans and the latter giving an interesting presence whenever on-screen. Overall the cast of American Made are solid in their acting for their roles with smooth-talking charisma to match the energy and style of the film.

Overall Consensus: American Made provides an entertaining watch as Tom Cruise's charismatic charm leads through the real-life story with a delightful tone throughout risky entanglements. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🎟

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You like biographical crime dramas that take place during the 1980s. You like movies with a fun tone covering up the high-risk activities. You like seeing Tom Cruise fly planes.

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors. You dislike biographical crime dramas that take place during the 1980s. You are annoyed movies with a fun tone covering up the high-risk activities. You wanted to see Tom Cruise run.

Coming up next: October-ween has finally concluded with a biographical crime drama and has ended on a satisfying note. The month has been quite an interesting batch of films with the underwhelming The Lego Ninjago Movie, the visually ambitious Blade Runner 2049, the comedically entertaining Happy Death Day, and the charming American Made. Niche November will be arriving shortly with the first batch of the anticipated blockbusters that have the possibility of being safe in their own formula or being risky in trying something new. Tune in next time as Screening Spectacles will return to Asgaard where Thor faces the threat of Armageddon with the help of his allies in the third entry of his solo trilogy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor: Ragnarok!