American Made 2017

     Barry Seal works as a pilot of TWA until he is recruited by the CIA in 1978.  He begins running a smaller but faster plane to South America.  He brings in drugs for Pablos Escobar of the Medellin Cartel.  Then he begins smuggling guns and money laundering.  He receives the nickname, ‘The Gringo that always delivers!!’  He moves his family to rural Mena, Arkansas.  Barry was making so much money that the local bank gave him the main vault and built a smaller vault for the money belonging to other people living in the town.  Barry buried duffel bags filled with money in his backyard. 

     This movie is interesting and it seems like none of this could be true??  How can a pilot possibly make this much money?  How can he bring in drugs to the USA without getting caught?  How can he run guns without getting caught?  Doesn’t the bank think a little bit about the amount of money they are holding for him?  Along with all this action there is comedy too.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

115 min, Action directed by Doug Liman with Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright, Jesse Plemons, Caleb Landry Jones, Lola Kirke, Jayma Mays, Alejandro Edda Benito Martinez, E. Roger Mitchell, Jed Rees, Fredy Yate, Mauricio Mejia, Robert Farrior, Morgan Hinkleman.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 86% critic 78% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 976 reviews, Metacritic 65 out of 100 with 50 critics 6.9 out of 10 with 201 reviews, Pluddged’n 1* out of 5*, IGN 4* out of 5*, Common Sense Media 4* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Ball Ground, Atlanta, Madison, Georgia; New Orleans, Louisiana; Caqueta, Aracuara, Colombia.  Tom Cruise has a pilot’s license and he did all of his own flying scenes.  The plane is a Piper Aerostar 600.  On the last day of filming on September 11, 2015, stunt pilot Alan D. Purwin and he Venezuelan co-pilot were killed when their plane crashed during foggy conditions in the Andes.  A survivor, Jimmy Lee Garland suffered serious injuries.  Featured on the 20914 Black List of the most liked unproduced film script.  Barry talks to a man in the hallway of the White House.  He was George W. Bush and he mentioned that he flew with the Air National Guard from 1968-74.  The real Barry Seal looks nothing like Tom Cruise.  He was larger and heavier and nicknamed ‘El Gordo’ (the fat one) by the Cartel.  The first R-rated film for Tom Cruise since Tropic Thunder of 2008.  The budget was $50 million and the worldwide gross was $134 million.