American Made

"It's not a felony if you're doing it for the good guys."

2017 1h 55m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 5,168

ComedyCrimeDrama

Synopsis

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The true story of pilot Barry Seal, who transported contraband for the CIA and the Medellin cartel in the 1980s.

“It's not a felony if you're doing it for the good guys.”

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Cast

Tom Cruise
Barry Seal
Domhnall Gleeson
Monty 'Schafer'
Sarah Wright
Lucy Seal
Jesse Plemons
Sheriff Downing
Caleb Landry Jones
JB
Lola Kirke
Judy Downing
Jayma Mays
Dana Sibota
Alejandro Edda
Jorge Ochoa

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Doug Liman
Writers: Gary Spinelli
Languages: Spanish, French, English
Countries: United States of America, Luxembourg

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 9 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Spanish, French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Luxembourg.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

227+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Doug Liman, shot by César Charlone. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Christophe Beck. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Andrew Mondshein shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Doug Liman directs. César Charlone behind the camera. Christophe Beck scores. Andrew Mondshein cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Luxembourg. Dialogue in Spanish, French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 9 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Spanish, French, English.
4International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Luxembourg.
5227+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Doug Liman, shot by César Charlone. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Christophe Beck. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Andrew Mondshein shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Tom Cruise and Domhnall Gleeson and Sarah Wright carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "It's not a felony if you're doing it for the good guys.".
11IMDB entry: tt3532216 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 11 themes, including "central intelligence agency (cia)", "drug smuggling", "drug crime", "money laundering".
13Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: César Charlone
Original score: Christophe Beck
Editing: Andrew Mondshein
Production design: Dan Weil
Costume design: Kym Barrett
Makeup / hair: Olga Turrini Bernardoni
VFX supervisor: Scott Riopelle
Sound: Bob Chefalas
Stunt coordinator: Joey Box
Runtime: 115 min · 1h 55m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $50,000,000
Box office: $133,511,855
Return: 267% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: American Made (2017)

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Doug Liman

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What people are saying

fung02017-12-31
★ 9/10
American Made is a peculiar film, but a very enjoyable one. It takes a playful, satirical look at the origins of the notorious 'Iran-Contra' affair, through the eyes of pilot Barry Seal. Along the ways we get thrills, laughs, astonishing (true-life) twists and turns and some vivid characters. Even if you followed the public Iran-Contra scandal, you may be unfamiliar with the story of Seal, who started running guns for the CIA years before the familiar public scandal erupted. American Made is a fast, breezy, amoral look at the ins and outs of a covert operation made to go wrong. There's no judgment here; in fact, we come to like Seal's crazy make-it-up-as-you-go-along approach to flying, to crime and to life in general. Tom Cruise is perfectly cast as the cocky, reckless pilot. I've done a fair bit of flying, and I've met one or two hot-shots like (in a lesser degree) the one Cruise portrays. Cruise has lately been playing parts that are much too young for him (e.g. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back), but his age works well in this case. In a way, Seal is a guy fighting to stay young. If there's one there's one thing to regret about American Made it's that it carefully avoids most of the political backdrop. We're told that the Sandinistas were evil Russian-backed Communists, which is undoubtedly what the CIA would have said at the time. (Hindsight is more ambiguous.) We're shown, just barely, how the Reagan administration evolved a cockeyed criminal scheme for its own ends, but the film ends where the public Iran-Contra scandal began. Ollie North is a presence in only one or two shots. Nonetheless, Barry Seal's personal story arc is wrapped up perfectly. The ending doesn't let anyone off the hook, but it does leave us questioning our own moral position, as we're inevitably drawn to like and admire Barry Seal, in spite of his total lack of scruples or judgment. Doug Liman directs with his usual flair. He's had a remarkably varied career, ranging from spy-action (Bourne Identity) to superheroes (Jumper) to political drama (Fair Game) to straight-up sci-fi (Edge of Tomorrow). American Made stands up very well in that catalog. It's a fun film, a thoughtful film, an unusual film... though its darker side may not appeal to every taste.
GenerationofSwine2023-01-14
★ 10/10
It's always kind of fun seeing Tom Cruise in a role where he has to actually act and not just do the action phone-in-emotion thing...because he is capable of being a decent actor and not just a pretty-boy action star. And, in this he was a decent actor. And the result is a very enjoyable and fun period piece that has just as much drama as it does action and comedy, which allows the time dedication to slip buy unnoticed. It's actually pretty rare that you can watch a film this long and not really feel like you're watching a long film. The only real downside is that the end hits you a bit abruptly, a bit too abruptly for the build up...but who cares when the build-up is this enjoyable.