American Made

It's a pity that Cruise's best role in recent years doesn't come in a slightly better (understand: better written, built and with a dramatic point) film. American Made flies too smoothly. Especially in the first half, one almost prays for artificial turbulence. But Spinelli's screenplay is a flat track composed of repetitive episodes carried by Tom's charisma and a ready-to-use 80s vibe. Although Liman tries to decently direct the film, he doesn't pull out any extra drive with his 80s magical processes. Fortunately, Cruise enjoys his everyday crook, who generally doesn't ask too many questions, so that the viewer can enjoy him as well. American Made is a solid, but too long episode of Narcos. The film owes almost everything to the Netflix series, but unfortunately also can't cover its limits when it is compared to it. A serious historical topic is thus dismissed by a few shortcuts and jokes, which we know almost literally from Narcos. But the series managed to unexpectedly make a mark. Barry tries to do it in the end, but rather harmlessly. Why ****? Because Tom. So the 4th piece from pure fandom. (08/25/2017)

American Made is a funny, fast-paced and, thanks mainly to the excellent Tom Cruise, a really cool chill-out movie that does not try to be dramatic. Which surprises me, because had its satire been a little more piercing, it could have reached the heights of Martin Scorsese. (08/31/2017)

A worse feature episode of Narcos, made in a relaxed but inconsistently executed style of The Wolf of Wall Street or the Lord of War. So, it never finds its own path and so it crouches in the shadow of the above. What would help is a better-built storyline, some emotions and a better executed shift to more serious department at the end, but purely as 80s stylized relaxed biographical nonsense, it's not really bad at all and it's definitely fun. Take my word for it. Especially thanks to Cruise, who is a great fit to this comic conceived role of a passive macho dude. Partly because he doesn't try to stylize himself into the real Barry Seal and he just plays himself. (08/24/2017)

A very likeable film from start to finish. You can cheer for the main hero, although he's not fully a good guy, it's thrilling and funny and it has a pleasant retro look and sound. I often thought of Gold with Mathew McConaughey, which, of course, had something extra and I liked even more, but I rarely thought of the much worse The Wolf of Wall Street. Tom Cruise shows us why he still belongs amongst the most sympathetic and best actors. (09/06/2017)

After The Mummy, Tom Cruise apparently relaxed and enjoyed this 1980s summer romp perhaps even more than many viewers. It’s hard to deny that the premise is uninteresting, but the execution and especially the pacing are a challenge. It's a movie about a huckster pilot that basically flies on autopilot the whole time and everything is clearly lined up (and repetitive). There is no moment of surprise, no vivacity and no drive, you can anticipate the screenwriter's intentions three moves ahead. You still may get a taste of this summer ride, but it's not the experience of the year. The attempt to align itself with Scorsese's legends with its razor-sharp jokes and sarcastic undertones is there, but unfortunately often off-target. (09/01/2017)