''American Made'' is a 2017 American
action comedy film
Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre.
Film
The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...
directed by
Doug Liman
Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), ''Jumper'' (2008), '' Ed ...
, written by Gary Spinelli, and starring
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
,
Domhnall Gleeson
Domhnall Gleeson (; born 12 May 1983) is an Irish actor and screenwriter. He is the son of actor Brendan Gleeson, with whom he has appeared in a number of films and theatre projects. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts from Dublin Inst ...
,
Sarah Wright
Sarah Fay Wright Olsen (born September 28, 1983) is an American actress. She played Millicent Gergich in a recurring role on ''Parks and Recreation''.
Career
Wright began her acting career at an early age. When she was 14 years old she became ...
,
Alejandro Edda
Alejandro Edda (born May 17, 1984) is a Mexican–American actor, best known for his roles as Marco Rodriguez in the AMC television series '' Fear the Walking Dead'' (2016) and Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán in the Netflix original series '' Narcos ...
, Mauricio Mejía,
Caleb Landry Jones
Caleb Landry Jones (born December 7, 1989) is an American actor and musician, known for his roles as Banshee in '' X-Men: First Class'', Jeremy Armitage in '' Get Out'', Red Welby in ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'', Ty Carter in '' T ...
, and
Jesse Plemons. It is inspired by the life of
Barry Seal, a former
TWA
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...
pilot who flew missions for the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
, and became a drug smuggler for the
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...
in the 1980s.
In order to avoid jail time, Seal became an informant for the
DEA
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...
.
The film was first released in Taiwan on August 18, 2017, and then in the United States on September 29, 2017. It is the first film directed by Liman to be released by
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
since ''
The Bourne Identity'' in 2002, and played in 2D and
IMAX in select theaters. It grossed $134 million worldwide against a budget of around $50 million and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Cruise's performance.
Plot
In 1978,
Baton Rouge pilot
Barry Seal, who flies commercial jets for
TWA
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...
, is recruited by a
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
case officer calling himself Monty Schafer. He asks Seal, who has been smuggling
Cuban cigar
Cuban cigars are cigars manufactured in Cuba from tobacco grown within that island nation. Historically regarded as among the world's “finest”, they are synonymous with the island's culture and contribute nearly one quarter of the value of al ...
s into the country via Canada, to fly clandestine reconnaissance missions for the CIA over
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
using a small, fast, twin-engine
Piper Smith Aerostar 600, outfitted with sophisticated aerial surveillance cameras. Seal tells his wife, Lucy, he's still with TWA.
In the 1980s, Schafer asks Seal to start acting as a courier between the CIA and
General Noriega in
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
. During a mission, the
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...
picks Seal up and asks him to fly cocaine on his return flights to the United States. Seal accepts and starts flying the cartel's cocaine to
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, delivering the drugs via airdrop in the countryside instead of landing at an airport. The CIA turns a blind eye to the drug smuggling, but the
DEA
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...
tracks Seal down. To avoid the authorities, Seal and his family must relocate to the remote town of
Mena, Arkansas, and his wife comes to accept the wealth generated by his new life. The small town gradually becomes wealthy as the hub of U.S. cocaine trafficking.
Later, Schafer asks Seal to run guns to the
Nicaraguan Contras based in
Honduras. Seal realizes that the Contras are not serious about the war and just want to get rich and he starts trading the guns to the cartel. The CIA sets up a Contra training base in Mena and Seal flies the Contras in, but many of them escape as soon as they arrive.
Seal makes so much money he buries it in suitcases in the backyard. Seal's freeloading brother-in-law JB moves in, needing a job. Eventually, he starts stealing money from the Seals and is arrested after Sheriff Joe Downing catches him with a briefcase full of laundered cash. With JB out on bail, Seal gives him money and a plane ticket to
Bora Bora
Bora Bora (French: ''Bora-Bora''; Tahitian: ''Pora Pora'') is an island group in the Leeward Islands. The Leeward Islands comprise the western part of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, which is an overseas collectivity of the French R ...
and tells him to get lost for his safety. JB demands weekly cash and insults Lucy. As Barry chases after him, JB is killed in his car by a bomb placed by the Medellín Cartel, who had previously promised to "take care" of the JB problem.
The FBI soon catches wind of the sudden exuberance on the streets of Mena, not helped by JB's reckless spending, and eventually, the CIA shuts the program down and abandons Seal, who is arrested by the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
, DEA,
ATF
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...
and
Arkansas State Police
The Arkansas State Police is a state police division of the Arkansas Department of Public Safety and the "premier" law enforcement agency in the State of Arkansas. The Arkansas State Police is responsible for enforcing motor vehicle laws, traf ...
simultaneously. Seal escapes prosecution by making a deal with the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
, which wants evidence of the
Sandinistas
The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto Cé ...
being drug traffickers. They ask Seal to get photos that tie the Medellín Cartel to the Nicaraguan Sandinistas. Seal manages to get the pictures, but the White House releases them as propaganda against the Sandinistas. Seal is prominently shown in the pictures, which leads to his indictment by the crusading state attorney general, and the cartel plotting revenge.
Seal is convicted but sentenced to only 1,000 hours of
community service
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performe ...
. Moving from
motel
A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionarie ...
to motel making
video recordings of his experiences, Seal fears an
explosion anytime he starts his car. As his community service is performed at the same
Salvation Army building every night, Seal cannot hide from the cartel and is shot dead by assassins. The CIA destroys all evidence connecting them to Seal. After Seal is dead, the CIA continues smuggling, instead
using Iran to get guns to the Contras, as proposed by Schafer.
The film ends with Schafer getting promoted for his idea, though it is soon discovered by the public with reporters asking
President Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
and
Vice President Bush about the scandal. Lucy and her kids move back to
Baton Rouge, where she is seen contentedly working in fast food. One of her expensive pieces of jewelry is seen on her wrist.
Cast
*
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
as
Barry Seal
*
Domhnall Gleeson
Domhnall Gleeson (; born 12 May 1983) is an Irish actor and screenwriter. He is the son of actor Brendan Gleeson, with whom he has appeared in a number of films and theatre projects. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts from Dublin Inst ...
as CIA Agent Monty Schafer
*
Sarah Wright
Sarah Fay Wright Olsen (born September 28, 1983) is an American actress. She played Millicent Gergich in a recurring role on ''Parks and Recreation''.
Career
Wright began her acting career at an early age. When she was 14 years old she became ...
as Lucy Seal
*
Jesse Plemons as Sheriff Joe Downing, of Mena, Arkansas
*
Caleb Landry Jones
Caleb Landry Jones (born December 7, 1989) is an American actor and musician, known for his roles as Banshee in '' X-Men: First Class'', Jeremy Armitage in '' Get Out'', Red Welby in ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'', Ty Carter in '' T ...
as J.B., Lucy's Brother
*
Jayma Mays
Jamia Suzette "Jayma" Mays is an American actress. She is known for playing Emma Pillsbury in the Fox musical series '' Glee'' (2009–2015) and for her starring roles in the films ''Red Eye'' (2005), '' Paul Blart: Mall Cop'' (2009) and ''Th ...
as State Attorney General Dana Sibota
*
Lola Kirke
Lola Clementine Kirke (born 27 September 1990) is a British-American actress and singer-songwriter. She starred in the 2015 film ''Mistress America'' and the Amazon Studios television series ''Mozart in the Jungle.'' She appeared in '' Gone Girl ...
as Judy Downing
*
Connor Trinneer
Connor Wyatt Trinneer (born March 19, 1969) is an American film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for his roles as Charles "Trip" Tucker III on ''Star Trek: Enterprise'', Michael on the series ''Stargate Atlantis'', and Professor ...
as
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
* Mauricio Mejía as
Pablo Escobar
*
Alejandro Edda
Alejandro Edda (born May 17, 1984) is a Mexican–American actor, best known for his roles as Marco Rodriguez in the AMC television series '' Fear the Walking Dead'' (2016) and Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán in the Netflix original series '' Narcos ...
as
Jorge Ochoa
*
Benito Martinez as James Rangel
* Fredy Yate as
Carlos Lehder
Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas (born 7 September 1949) is a German-Colombian former drug lord who was co-founder of the Medellín Cartel. He was released from prison in the United States after 33 years in 2020. Born in Armenia, Colombia, Lehder ...
*
E. Roger Mitchell as Agent Craig McCall
*
Jed Rees
Jed Rees (born March 8, 1970) is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles in movies such as ''Galaxy Quest'' (1999), '' The Ringer'' (2005), ''Deadpool'' (2016), and '' American Made'' (2017).
Early life
Rees studied music for two years in co ...
as Louis Finkle
* William Mark McCullough as Pete
Production
Development
In the summer of 2013, screenwriter Gary Spinelli was looking for a project that was based on real events. On the bonus feature of ''American Made,'' Spinelli said:
The film was originally titled ''Mena'' and in 2014 was featured on
The Black List, a survey showcasing the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. On January 14, 2015, it was announced that
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
and ''
Edge of Tomorrow
''Edge of Tomorrow'' (also known as ''Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow'') is a 2014 American science fiction action film starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt with Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson in supporting roles. Directed by Doug Liman wi ...
'' Director
Doug Liman
Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), ''Jumper'' (2008), '' Ed ...
would reunite for what was originally titled ''Mena''.
Casting
Sarah Wright
Sarah Fay Wright Olsen (born September 28, 1983) is an American actress. She played Millicent Gergich in a recurring role on ''Parks and Recreation''.
Career
Wright began her acting career at an early age. When she was 14 years old she became ...
,
Jayma Mays
Jamia Suzette "Jayma" Mays is an American actress. She is known for playing Emma Pillsbury in the Fox musical series '' Glee'' (2009–2015) and for her starring roles in the films ''Red Eye'' (2005), '' Paul Blart: Mall Cop'' (2009) and ''Th ...
and
Domhnall Gleeson
Domhnall Gleeson (; born 12 May 1983) is an Irish actor and screenwriter. He is the son of actor Brendan Gleeson, with whom he has appeared in a number of films and theatre projects. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts from Dublin Inst ...
were added to the cast in April.
Jesse Plemons,
Caleb Landry Jones
Caleb Landry Jones (born December 7, 1989) is an American actor and musician, known for his roles as Banshee in '' X-Men: First Class'', Jeremy Armitage in '' Get Out'', Red Welby in ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'', Ty Carter in '' T ...
and
Lola Kirke
Lola Clementine Kirke (born 27 September 1990) is a British-American actress and singer-songwriter. She starred in the 2015 film ''Mistress America'' and the Amazon Studios television series ''Mozart in the Jungle.'' She appeared in '' Gone Girl ...
were added to the cast in May 2015.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
on the film began on May 18, 2015 in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
Filming locations there include counties
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
,
Clayton,
DeKalb DeKalb or De Kalb may refer to:
People
* Baron Johann de Kalb (1721–1780), major general in the American Revolutionary War
Places Municipalities in the United States
* DeKalb, Illinois, the largest city in the United States named DeKalb
**DeKal ...
,
Fulton
Fulton may refer to:
People
* Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship
* Fulton (surname)
Given name
* Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer
* Fult ...
,
Gwinnett
Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the second-most populous county in Georgia (after Fulton ...
,
Morgan and
Pickens.
Filming on the Georgia Unit wrapped on July 12, 2015. On August 20, 2015, Cruise arrived in
Medellin,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, and on August 31, in
Santa Marta
Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...
to scout filming locations for the film. Filming in Colombia commenced on August 26, 2015 and wrapped on September 11, 2015. Production on the film resumed February 3, 2016 in
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
as filming has been suspended due to a plane crash in Colombia that occurred in September 2015. Reshoots occurred in late January 2017 in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
Plane crash
A plane crash on the set of the film in Colombia on September 11, 2015, killed two people and caused serious injuries to another member of the crew. The plane (a twin-engine
Piper Aerostar
The Piper Aerostar (formerly Ted Smith Aerostar) is an American twin-engined propeller-driven executive or light transport aircraft, designed by Ted R. Smith. It was originally built by Ted Smith Aircraft Company, which after 1978 became part o ...
), which was carrying crew members (three American pilots), was returning to
Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport
Olaya Herrera Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Olaya Herrera) is an airport located in Medellín, Colombia, that serves regional and domestic flights. Additionally, the airport is used by general aviation and features several hangars for charters.
To ...
in
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
when it ran into bad weather and the crash occurred. The dead were identified as Carlos Berl and
Alan Purwin, who was the founder and president of Helinet Aviation, a company which provides aerial surveillance technology to government agencies and law enforcement, and a film pilot who had worked in top films. American pilot Jimmy Lee Garland was seriously injured and rushed to a local hospital.
Release
In May 2015, Universal set the film for release on January 6, 2017. On August 8, 2016, the film's release was pushed to September 29, 2017, and its title changed from ''Mena'' to ''American Made''. It was released in Europe on August 23, 2017, and in the United States on September 29, 2017, and also screened at the
Deauville Film Festival
The Deauville American Film Festival (french: Festival du cinéma américain de Deauville, link=no) is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France.
It was established by Lionel Cho ...
on September 1, 2017.
Reception
Box office
''American Made'' grossed $51.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $83.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $134.9 million, against a production budget of $50 million.
[
In North America, ''American Made'' was released alongside the openings of '']Flatliners
''Flatliners'' is a 1990 American psychological horror film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by Michael Douglas and Rick Bieber, and written by Peter Filardi. It stars Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt, and Ke ...
'' and '' 'Til Death Do Us Part'', as well as the wide expansion of '' Battle of the Sexes'', and was projected to gross $12–15 million from 3,023 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $960,000 from Thursday night previews, the lowest total by a Cruise-led film in recent years, and $6.1 million on its first day. Initially, studio estimates had the film opening to $17 million, finishing third at the box office, behind holdovers '' It'' ($17.3 million) and '' Kingsman: The Golden Circle'' ($17 million). The following day, actual results had the film debuting to $16.8 million, with ''Kingsman'' beating out ''It'' by a gross of $16.93 million to $16.90 million. 91% of its opening weekend audience was over the age of 25. In its second weekend, the film grossed $8.1 million (a drop of 51%), finishing 6th.
The film was released in 21 countries on August 25, 2017, and grossed a total of $6.1 million over the weekend. It finished number one in 11 of the territories, including the UK, where it replaced five-time champ ''Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.[Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...]
, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 273 reviews, with an average rating of 6.95/10. The site's critical consensus states, "''American Made''s fast-and-loose attitude with its real-life story mirrors the cavalier – and delightfully watchable – energy Tom Cruise gives off in the leading role." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on reviews from 50 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak
PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios.
History
The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...
reported filmgoers gave it a 55% "definite recommend".
''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''s Guy Lodge wrote: "A sweat-slicked, exhausting but glibly entertaining escapade on its own terms, ''American Made'' is more interesting as a showcase for the dateless elasticity of Cruise's star power. It feels, for better or worse, like a film he could have made at almost any point in the last 30 years."
Leslie Felperin of ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' wrote: "This is yet another hyper-competent, boyishly devil-may-care character that offers Cruise, famous for his derring-do on set, a chance to do his own stunts and fly a plane; it's not a role all that far out of the ageing megastar's wheelhouse."
Historical accuracy
Despite the film's suggestion that he was recruited by the CIA while working for TWA, Seal denied in court that he had ever worked for the CIA. Monty Schafer was a fictional character and not based on a real-life CIA agent. A 1996 report by the CIA inspector general acknowledged that the agency had conducted a covert training exercise at the Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport
Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) southeast of the central business district of Mena, a city in Polk County, Arkansas, United States. It is included in the Nat ...
with another federal agency, but found no evidence that the agency had been involved in any illegal activities.
Seal was fired from TWA in 1974 for falsely claiming medical leave when he was involved in a smuggling scheme. Seal's connections with cartel bosses were also not direct when he was running his drug operations, and he did not meet Pablo Escobar and the Ochoa brothers in person until 1984, when he was working as an informant for the DEA on an undercover operation, following his arrest.
His third wife Deborah, whom Lucy was loosely based on, stated that Seal started his drug smuggling business in 1975, not 1980 like the film suggests, and that it was centered around marijuana before it involved cocaine. Seal's DEA record also noted that he expanded to smuggling cocaine in 1978 and claimed that he was smuggling marijuana as early as 1976. Additionally, Seal's ties to the Medellín Cartel did not begin after being kidnapped while refueling his plane in Colombia, but when he met a smuggler who flew for cartel operative Jorge Ochoa during a flight home from Honduras where he served nine months in a local jail after being caught smuggling drugs in 1979.
When asked by Abraham Riesman of ''Vulture'' if the film was a biopic, director Doug Liman said "You know, we're not making a biopic. Tom Cruise doesn't look like Barry Seal. His character is inspired by the stories we learned about Barry." Although Cruise reportedly gained weight for the role, he is only tall, and Seal was an obese man who reportedly weighed . (Barry Seal weighed 300 pounds (140 kg) only later in his life, weight probably taken from a morgue report after his death, there are multiple pictures of him weighing much less)
Liman has also acknowledged that the film's zero-gravity love scene was his idea and that he received the inspiration for it after he and Cruise collided in the cockpit while filming a flight scene.
Seal was unapologetic about his weapons and drug smuggling operations, even stating once in a television interview, "Whether you call it soldier of fortune or what, it's a way of life for me. I enjoy it and I'm going to keep doing it." He also never crash-landed into a suburban neighborhood. Liman has described the film as "a fun lie based on a true story."
References
External links
*
{{Brian Grazer
2017 films
2017 action comedy films
American aviation films
American action comedy films
American historical action films
2010s English-language films
2010s spy films
Cold War aviation films
Films about the Central Intelligence Agency
Films about the illegal drug trade
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in fiction
Films directed by Doug Liman
Films produced by Brian Grazer
Films produced by Brian Oliver
Films scored by Christophe Beck
Films shot in Atlanta
Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state)
Films shot in Colombia
Films shot in New Orleans
Films set in Arkansas
Films set in Colombia
Films set in Louisiana
Films set in Nicaragua
Films set in Honduras
Films set in the 1970s
Films set in 1978
Films set in 1979
Films set in the 1980s
Films set in 1980
Films set in 1981
Films set in 1982
Films set in 1983
Films set in 1984
Films set in 1985
Films set in 1986
Universal Pictures films
Cross Creek Pictures films
Imagine Entertainment films
IMAX films
Cultural depictions of George W. Bush
Cultural depictions of Pablo Escobar
Biographical films about criminals
2010s American films