AMERICAN MADE – A Review by Hollywood Hernandez

 

AMERICAN MADE – A Review by Hollywood Hernandez

 

American Made is based on a true story, that takes place in the 1980's, about an American commercial pilot who is recruited by both the C.I.A. and by Escobar's Colombian drug cartel. He first starts out gathering info and taking pictures from the sky for the C.I.A. but when he's made an offer that he cannot refuse by the Colombians to run drugs from Latin America to the U.S., his world changes at a break neck pace and the money starts rolling in.

 

More questions are asked than answered in this movie. The movie itself is too busy relying on Cruise's movie star charm. He's smiles from behind his aviator shades as he deeply immerses himself in his character as Barry Seal. He reminded me of what might have become of a young "Maverick" from Top Gun if we were to see him as an adult 20 years later. This story is fast paced and it does manage to keep you entertained.

 

Sarah Wright plays Cruise's wife Lucy. She's hilarious in her role as a girl who was working at KFC when she met her husband to the richest woman in a small Arkansas community where they are placed by the C.I.A. to run all kind of covert operations from gun running to smuggling in Nicaraguans to the U.S. to train them as "freedom fighters."

 

American Made is definitely a star-driven vehicle for Cruise and, to his credit, he acts well enough to make you forget that you're watching Tom Cruise on screen. He's Barry Seal, "the gringo who can get anything delivered" and he is very believable. The movie also shows the corruption in that was widespread in Ronald Reagan's government, but that's another story.

 

This movie is rated "R" for obscene language and some sexuality and runs just under 2 hours long. American Made is not a great movie, but it will keep you entertained. On my "Hollywood Popcorn Scale" it rates a LARGE.