First of all I would just like to say that this was a really well made film, solid all the way through. There was never a time where I felt like things were dragging on. And it was able to keep you tuned in and invested regardless of what was happening.
A lot of that of course is thanks to Tom Cruise’s portrayal of Barry Seal. Which is really what sells the whole picture in my opinion. It’s not because of his supposed “star power” or his devilishly good looks as you might assume. This was more due to the fact of how locked in Cruise was to this character. Sure it was funny the first few minutes hearing him talk with a southern accent. But you get over that real quick and realize that he’s not messing around with this. He turned up the charm big time to bring out the like-ability of a character that easily could’ve come off as sleazy or otherwise in the wrong hands.
" Tom Cruise’s portrayal of Barry Seal is really what sells the whole picture. "
Most of the supporting cast was good, not great in their perspective roles. It seemed as though they fed more into the narrative of who and how Barry was rather than moving the plot along. Sure the agent character was more than necessary in the initial set up of the film. And obviously having this based on true events he had to stay in it as long as he did in real life. However the further you got into the movie he became more like an annoying reality check for the lead more than anything.
My one criticism of how the movie was filmed goes to the camera work.
What was incredibly interesting about this film outside of the story itself was the use of tones and colors. The more faded almost pastel look of the film at times did a great job of setting up the world you would be diving into with the 70’s and 80’s. My one criticism of how the movie was filmed goes to the camera work. There was a lot of free hand camera use it seemed and at times it almost had a soft shake to it. Not to be confused with the “shaky cam” used in a lot of action movies. This was more like the person holding just couldn’t keep still. This in turn gave me a bit of a headache the longer I watched. But with everything else being at the level that it was I was able to power through.
So overall I can say that I "enjoyed" the movie and I'm "glad" I saw it on the big screen. But I can't say I will be revisiting this one again. At least not until chapter 2 comes out I guess. Needless to say I won't be sleeping very well the next few nights. So if you need me I'll be washing my eyes and brain with bleach as I watch the Care Bears on repeat to get me somewhat back to neutral.
All in all I really did enjoy American Made. And I believe that if you’re a fan of movies like The Wolf Of Wall Street or The Big Short. Where they’re able to take a fun and energetic look at real life situations and at times serious subject matter. I highly recommend checking this one out. I think you’ll be glad you did.
Rating: 7/10
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