Oh, Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise has made a lot of enjoyable films over the years. Just pick one, especially in the late 80’s and forward he’s had more hits than misses and now going into his mid 50’s, he’s still churning them out like he’s a 30 year old.
So we have a new Tom Cruise movie this week called American Made, the story about pilot Barry Seal. He went from working for an airline to CIA to being a smuggler for the Medellin cartel.
And yes, Pablo Escobar is in it.
Tom Cruise covered in cocaine trying to buy a bike from some kid.
The movie takes us through what Seal was going through with his family and his “business” – flying weapons and coke for the CIA and the cartel, which kinda makes you wonder who the real bad guys are. Seal is definitely no Walter White where he’s doing things to just take care of his family. No, Seal is enjoying the ride and that is one of the main reasons Tom Cruise is so perfect for the role. Cruise glides with the role and makes Seal likeable even though he’s doing bad things. Wonder what Cruise could do with a role like Alonzo in Training Day…
American Made does fall into the types of movies like War Dogs, Lord of War and Blow. It loves to romanticize the love of money and sometimes you can get in over your head for that love. What’s also interesting about the film is, like Better Call Saul, doing the right thing can also get you in more trouble than doing illegal shit. It blurs that line while not being preachy about it.
Director Doug Liman continues to impress with each new film. Having started with the low budget Swingers and moving on to action films like The Bourne Identity, Mr and Mrs Smith to even Cruise’s recent sci fi movie Edge of Tomorrow he adds to the genre instead of just making more boring shit.
A lot of people seem to either like Tom Cruise or hate him, especially with his recent outing, The Mummy (shut up, that was a good movie) but in this one you should find him pretty damn entertaining and remember why he is the star that he is.
Catch Mando on Twitter at @manbat33 when he’s not co-hosting the @TalentedSlacker podcast!