An American Throwback: American Made

Barry Seal is an American pilot about to make the flight(s) of his life: running drugs for the CIA as the agency investigates clandestine organizations that would be exposed in the Iran-Contra Affair. Captured by actor Tom Cruise, Seal's catch-me-if-you-can spirit drives the film the way Jeff Gordon drives a race car, revealing the true-life events at lighting speed, manic at times, while effectively telling Seal's story in an interview that kicks off this riveting drama inspired by true events.
The flop-sweat Seal had been a TWA pilot who enjoyed a lucrative sidehustle smuggling the contraband of Cuban cigars along his commercial flights when he's busted by CIA Agent Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson) who offers him the alternative to prison.

For Tom Cruise, this tongue-in-cheek film isn't new as, in many of his roles have been tailored to a certain level of witty humor, but it is rare for director Doug Liman, whose forte is action-packed thrillers such as The Bourne Identity, Swingers, Go, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Jumper, Fair Game, and Edge of Tomorrow.  Liman smartly conveys the secret world of drug-smuggling in Jason Bourne-like fashion, while staying true to Barry's easy-going character. Of course, the real Barry Seal may have seen things differently, but that's why biopics are not the same as written biographies. I believe Seal would have played a more unusual-suspect part instead of playing the hero, like Cruise did, in the affair involving the National Security Council funneling aid to the Nicaraguan contras. 
The surfacing scandal threatened President Ronald Reagan's "Just say no" campaign on drugs as he, and Lieu. Col. Oliver L. North pop up on the screen as fictionalized proponents of the meetings with the contras. 

The script is smooth, surprisingly suave, and sleek, going down like butter, if you keep in mind that it is a tasty work of fiction. Cruise, luckily, is able to work his charm to soften the political edges, yet seems to have free range in portraying Barry Seal. Hurdling forward, delivering cocaine, whether by fault of the director or purposefully glossed over by real-life Seal, Barry never why he's doing this. 

In real life, he has been in articles, books, documentaries, propaganda films, which include some revolving around the Conspiratorial Industrial Complex, shrouding Bill Clinton's presidency. American Made flew to theaters on the heels of the revival of The Mummy - for which Tom Cruise received less-than mediocre scores among critics. 

"This is a star vehicle first and foremost, which makes the film’s balancing of fact and fancy even harder to parse," according to Guy Lodge, reviewer for Variety.  It's obvious that casters picked Cruise because of his daredevil pride, which landed him the role of one Navy fighter pilot, albeit Barry isn't exactly Maverick. Still, you can't help but fall in love with Seal as he admits, "Sh** gets really crazy from here."

Behind disheveled Barry is a cast of equally bizarre characters; from Seal's redneck brother-in-law to a suspicious sheriff, these people add to the dream-like narrative. Here is the charm of the film; it's a fish-out-water tale. It is also a double-edged sword. American Made gets lost in Cruise's self-deprecating humor instead of the emotional payoff people hunger for. 

Whatever your opinion is, the flexibility of Tom Cruise shines in a wide range of roles, whether it be a sociopath forcing a cabby to drive him around while picking off his targets; a lead agent on a team of spies, accomplishing impossible missions; or a pilot-turned-smuggler - Cruise can play them all.