*Originally written September 4th, 2017*
"Stranger Than Fiction"
American Made tells the absurd true story of Barry Seal. A pilot who was hired by the CIA for surveillance photos, which eventually led to him running guns for the CIA, cocaine for The Cartel, then eventually even working for The White House.
Tom Cruise effortlessly sells this role. He makes charisma look as easy as breathing. This guy oozes a screen presence, even in his 50's. He may not look like the real Barry Seal, but that doesn't matter, what we got was much more fun and entertaining thanks to Cruise's persona.
The story takes the 'Wolf of Wall Street' with its approach. Dense in style and quick-paced storytelling. American Made does not stop for a second to breathe, the whole film is a breeze and some of the most fun I've had all year. Doug Liman proves here he really is an excellent director (If 2014's Edge of Tomorrow, also with Tom Cruise didn't prove that already). His eye for style is always engaging and sporadic. The camera is always moving or telling the story in different ways.
Telling a true story is always a tough thing. It usually comes off as boring cradle to grave Oscar Bait garbage, here it's at least visually fun and always entertaining. The '70s setting made use for a lot of great songs and I loved the use of retro logos for the opening titles and credits.
I'd be lying if I said Tom Cruise wasn't the thing holding this film together. The rest of the cast are mostly underused and forgettable. I'm also getting kinda sick of seeing Caleb Landry Jones pop up in things. I'm honestly concerned for the health of that guy, has he got scurvy or something? Serious question.
I was also surprised at just how funny this all was too. It goes to some absurd places and Tom Cruise proves he is just as good at comedy as he is action and drama. Despite the mostly light tone, the film does go to some quite dark places (Especially towards the end if you know the story already), but Liman manages to mix the comedy with drama extremely well. There's even some pretty tense moments spread throughout.
American Made might not be high art, but it's an insanely entertaining ride with incredible charismatic and likeable Tom Cruise performance. This year's Wolf of Wall Street or War Dogs.
8/10 Dans
American Made is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:
Twitter: @FigmentReviews and @ArronRoke91
Instagram: @DanBremner96 and @ArronRoke
YouTube: Figment Reviews
Letterboxd: Dan and Arron
No comments:
Post a Comment