Although the film suggests Seal was recruited by the CIA while flying for TWA, he denied in court that he had ever worked for the CIA.
Monty Schafer, Seal's supposed CIA contact and runner, was an invented character.
The CIA Inspector-General admitted in 1996 that they had run a covert training exercise at the Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport with another federal agency, but found no evidence that they had been involved in any illegal operations.
Seal was sacked from TWA in 1974 for falsely claiming medical leave when he was involved in smuggling.
His connections with cartel bosses were also not direct when he was running his drug operations.
He did not meet Pablo Escobar or the Ochoa brothers in person until 1984, when he was "narking" for the DEA on an undercover operation, following his arrest.
His third wife Deborah, whom Lucy was loosely based on, said Seal began his drug smuggling business in 1975 not 1980 like the film suggests, and concentrated on marijuana before it involved cocaine.
Seal's DEA record also said that he progressed to smuggling cocaine in 1978 and that he was smuggling marijuana as early as 1976.
Also, Seal's ties to the Medellín Cartel did not begin after being kidnapped while refuelling his plane in Colombia, but when he met a smuggler who flew for a cartel "biggie" Jorge Ochoa during a flight home from Honduras where he served nine months in a local jail after being caught smuggling drugs in 1979.
Asked if the film was a biopic, Director Doug Liman replied "You know, we're not making a biopic. Tom Cruise doesn't look like Barry Seal, but his character is built around the tales we heard about Barry Seal." Cruise reportedly gained weight for the role, but as he is only 5 ft 7 in tall, Seal ended-up a genuine well-padded porker who reportedly weighed the same as 300 pounds of bacon!
But in fact, Barry Seal weighed 300 pounds only later in life and his "pork poundage" was probably borrowed from a morgue record after his death as there are many photos of him weighing much less.
Director Liman also said that the film's zero-gravity love scene was his idea and that he was inspired after he and Cruise "collided" in the cockpit while filming a flight scene... Seal was unapologetic about both his weapons and drug smuggling operations, even stating once in a television interview, "Whether you call it soldier of fortune, or what, it's a way of life for me. I enjoy it and I'm going to keep doing it." Seal also never crash-landed into a suburban neighbourhood and Liman has described the film as "...a fun lie based on a true story."
Monty Schafer, Seal's supposed CIA contact and runner, was an invented character.
The CIA Inspector-General admitted in 1996 that they had run a covert training exercise at the Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport with another federal agency, but found no evidence that they had been involved in any illegal operations.
Seal was sacked from TWA in 1974 for falsely claiming medical leave when he was involved in smuggling.
His connections with cartel bosses were also not direct when he was running his drug operations.
He did not meet Pablo Escobar or the Ochoa brothers in person until 1984, when he was "narking" for the DEA on an undercover operation, following his arrest.
His third wife Deborah, whom Lucy was loosely based on, said Seal began his drug smuggling business in 1975 not 1980 like the film suggests, and concentrated on marijuana before it involved cocaine.
Seal's DEA record also said that he progressed to smuggling cocaine in 1978 and that he was smuggling marijuana as early as 1976.
Also, Seal's ties to the Medellín Cartel did not begin after being kidnapped while refuelling his plane in Colombia, but when he met a smuggler who flew for a cartel "biggie" Jorge Ochoa during a flight home from Honduras where he served nine months in a local jail after being caught smuggling drugs in 1979.
Asked if the film was a biopic, Director Doug Liman replied "You know, we're not making a biopic. Tom Cruise doesn't look like Barry Seal, but his character is built around the tales we heard about Barry Seal." Cruise reportedly gained weight for the role, but as he is only 5 ft 7 in tall, Seal ended-up a genuine well-padded porker who reportedly weighed the same as 300 pounds of bacon!
But in fact, Barry Seal weighed 300 pounds only later in life and his "pork poundage" was probably borrowed from a morgue record after his death as there are many photos of him weighing much less.
Director Liman also said that the film's zero-gravity love scene was his idea and that he was inspired after he and Cruise "collided" in the cockpit while filming a flight scene... Seal was unapologetic about both his weapons and drug smuggling operations, even stating once in a television interview, "Whether you call it soldier of fortune, or what, it's a way of life for me. I enjoy it and I'm going to keep doing it." Seal also never crash-landed into a suburban neighbourhood and Liman has described the film as "...a fun lie based on a true story."