American Made. Not without its issues but still great fun.

Standard Cruise cheesy grin shot

Barry Seal was an American pilot for TWA who was unhappy and bored in his job. Due to his skill and loose morals he gets offered a job by a man named Monty Schafer taking reconnaissance photographs in Central America for a company that is definitely not the CIA. Definitely not. His job brings him into contact with some of the most infamous criminal organisations and military strife of the 1980's. 

This was great fun for the most part. Tom Cruise at his Cruise-iest. Charming, funny and a bit crazy. The story and character actually fit him like a glove. He makes a cracking anti-hero. And it's all a story that would seem ridiculously far fetched if it wasn't all true. It's exciting, fast moving (for the most part) and absolutely bonkers stuff. The fast and loose style of Barry's life is reflected in the film's style too. All handheld camera's wobbling and zooming in. Jumpcuts to close ups and flashbacks. Loads of crackling energy. The messy feel makes for fun viewing. It's definitely never boring. Director Doug Liman has a confident hand and gets the feeling he wanted for the film across well. This is his second film with Cruise and they have a 3rd in the pipeline. Happy days!! 

All this and it's a solid history lesson too, looking back at an era America wants to wash it's hands off and pretend it didn't happen. That place and it's relationship with Central and South America between 1979 and 1985 was a bit mental to put things mildly. (In) famous faces such as Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, Jorge Ochoa and Pablo Escobar of the Medellin Cartel all make appearances. Everyone is dangerous. Everyone has their own shade of amorality. Even the "good" characters look the other way. Everyone has their price. The shades of gray pleased me. The sheer amount of comedy in it pleased me even more. The trailer made it look fun but I wasn't expecting to laugh this much. One scene involving a bull and wads of cash gave me a proper full on belly laugh. You'll understand when you see it.

The structure of the film reminded me of Goodfellas actually. The whiplash place. The introduction to a life of crime. Meeting and befriending larger than life criminals. The dizziness of the good life. The exhilaration of it all. And then ...............

As mentioned already Cruise was brilliant in this and looks like he had a whale of a time. It definitely washes away the memory of his godawful Mummy film from earlier this year. His easy charm carries the film well. Ireland's own Domhnall Gleeson is good value too as a slimy man who sees Seal as a stepping stone in his career. Another amoral character in a film that is chock full of them. Gleeson is becoming like his Da, an actor who will make you smile when he turns up on screen because you know he'll be good. Sarah Wright as his wife Lucy is fine too and gets plenty of screen time but still felt kind of slight. More on her below. Alejandro Edda makes a solid Jorge Ochoa. Friendly but vicious just under the surface.

But as always we take the good with the bad.

It's just under 2 hrs long but due to a quite sluggish final third it feels quite a bit longer. The story loses its way here and gets a little bit dull. Also, there's not really any depth to it all. Even an important death is totally overlooked. That was a bit weird tbh and felt quite jarring. We never really see the effect being in this world has on the characters aside from a fraught glance or two from Lucy. Her character could have been padded out a bit to counterbalance the wackier aspects of the film. Oh and the always brilliant Jesse Plemons is wasted in what amounts to a bit part.

But the good here definitely outweighs the bad. The good will generated in the first two thirds of the film carries it when it slows down. And when The Cruiser is on form he's mighty. I think he's one of the last great movie stars and is one of a handful of actors who's presence in a movie is enough to make me want to see it.

An enjoyable 2 hours at the flicks.