Where do I start with this one? Well I think you should go see American Made because it is a genuinely good film, not great, but I would say it is my favorite film of the year surpassing Dunkirk. Although I think Dunkirk is a far superior movie on a technical level I just can't deny how much I enjoyed American Made.
In this current climate the popular culture seems to have an affection for all things "80s" and Pablo Escobar so I was hesitant when going in on American Made but I love Tom Cruise, and that is a deep and completely heterosexual way and I don't think Doug Liman is as cynical as most directors working today which I think helped American Made.
American Made does have its problems and most of them come from Liman's direction. This film has a very handheld and off the cuff approach to shots with a lot of cuts and shaky shots but as I have always said if your movie is good I can forgive a bad camera which is very true for American Made. Other than the cinematography I feel as if the film could have been edited a little better and by that I mean by trimming some of the fat, not saying that it is loaded with unnecessary scenes but some do just hinder the film from keeping a good pace.
It is very easy to get lost in this film which is something that a lot of recent movies has been lacking because I became invested in what was going on. Scenes actually meant something and drove along the story and my god does this film have some tense scenes. Another criticism I have would be the ending, both this and Dunkirk just ended that one or two extra minutes too late but as I have said this is a very good movie so these problems are far less obtuse because the film grabbed my attention.
This film is hinged on Tom Cruise and I am glad to say that he does give one of his better performances in recent memory, not to say that he has been bad but this does feel like a different role to Ethan Hunt or Jack Reacher. I do have to say that Domhnall Gleeson is very good in this movie and it is nice to see him crop up in films that I like this dude just knows how to fill a role. The other performances are good but nothing too special.
I do praise the films soundtrack because it does attempt to stray away from your typical "retro" songs for more of a focused approach which again works in the films favour and does help it break away from something like a Guardians of the Galaxy which uses music as a tool rather than letting the music compliment the film.
Something I notice amongst new screenwriters is a trend to have every other line have a characters name in it. This film does suffer from this trend nothing too major just thought I would mention it.
Overall I highly recommend seeing American Made because its been a while since we had a good drugs movie and this is certainly better than ninety percent of movies in cinemas at the moment. Good story, good acting and an all round fun time.
7.5/10
Written By
Ashley Harvey
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