The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Fund us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Cannes
      • Sundance London
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • Tumblr

  • RSS


CultureCinemaMovie reviews

American Made

American Made | Movie review
24 August 2017
Olivia Cal
Avatar
Olivia Cal
24 August 2017

Movie and show review

Olivia Cal

American Made

★★★★★

Release date

25th August 2017

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

Links

FacebookWebsite

Who better to take on the role of real-life Barry Seal, an infamous pilot, drug and arms smuggler and launderer, than Tom Cruise? Not that the actor is any of those things, but it must be said that at least one of those titles will provoke action and if it’s a story chock-a-block with action, then he is most certainly our man.

But is he necessarily the right guy? With Cruise comes unfaltering perfection: an all-American action hero up there on the silver screen, with his brilliant and distinctive smile and charisma. He seems perfect, doesn’t he? Well, considering American Made is based on a true story and, as former FBI agent Del Hahn put it in an interview with Vice, the real-life Barry was just “not as smart and clever as he thought he was”, it’s clear that the smuggler is far from the perfect hero Cruise has portrayed in films such as Top Gun and Mission Impossible.

Seal is a commercial pilot with TWA during the Cold War era, with a small but lucrative business of smuggling cigars, when he is headhunted by mysterious CIA operative Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson). Sounds glamorous enough – working for the CIA to help fight communist threat, plus a hefty pay check. His job is to fly over Central America and snap pictures of communist rebels. It isn’t long though before his operations attract the attention of Pablo Escobar and what would be the Medellín Cartel. He begins smuggling cocaine into the US for an even greater pay out, then finds himself juggling both the cartel and the US government as he grows richer and richer. Beginning as a hedonistic venture, Seal jumps head first into a world of drugs, cash and danger, all the while maintaining that dazzling smile and charm.

Although fun and thrilling, American Made falls short on the human quality this movie star somewhat lacks, but does make up for it in superb acting, Cruise’s as-always-impeccable (if outrageous) stunts and Doug Liman’s skillful direction.

★★★★★

Olivia Cal

American Made is released nationwide on 25th August 2017.

Watch the trailer for American Made here:

Related Itemsreview

More in Movie reviews

The Outsider

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Beast

★★★★★
Euan Franklin
Read More

Every Day

★★★★★
Catherine Sedgwick
Read More

Big Fish and Begonia

★★★★★
Chloe Sizer
Read More

Funny Cow

★★★★★
Selina Begum
Read More

The Leisure Seeker

★★★★★
Daniel Amir
Read More

Let the Sunshine In

★★★★★
Euan Franklin
Read More

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

★★★★★
Euan Franklin
Read More

Truth or Dare

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Olivia Cal

American Made

★★★★★

Release date

25th August 2017

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

Links

FacebookWebsite

Tickets

Theatre tickets

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Project Gastronomía: How will Londoners eat in 2050? A symposium on gastronomy and multisensory design
    Food & Drinks
  • Gregory Porter at the Royal Albert Hall
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Bat Out of Hell at the Dominion Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Tribeca Film Festival 2018: On the red carpet with the stars of Westworld season 2
    Cinema
  • Half Breed
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • 10 cute sandals for spring
    Fashion & Lifestyle
  • Justin Nozuka at the Garage
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Mayfly at the Orange Tree Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Sherlock Gnomes premiere: A chat with James McAvoy, his co-stars and the film’s creators
    Cinema
  • The Outsider
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Sherlock Gnomes premiere: A chat with James McAvoy, his co-stars and the film’s creators
    Cinema
  • Tokio Myers at the Forum
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Beast
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Lisa Stansfield at the London Palladium
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Bat Out of Hell at the Dominion Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre

Instagram

Something is wrong. Response takes too long or there is JS error. Press Ctrl+Shift+J or Cmd+Shift+J on a Mac.
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Fund us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • New London restaurant openings and pop-ups
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Subscribe
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2018 FL Media Ltd

The Host at Yard Theatre | Theatre review
Camden Fringe Festival 2017: Motherlogues at Etcetera Theatre | Theatre review