American Made (2017)

The story of Barry Seal, an American pilot who became a drug-runner for the CIA in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the Iran-Contra Affair.

Director:

Doug Liman

Writer:

Gary Spinelli

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Benito Martinez	...	James Rangel
E. Roger Mitchell	...	Agent Craig McCall
Jed Rees	...	Louis Finkle
Fredy Yate	...	Carlos Lehder (as Fredy Yate Escobar)
Mauricio Mejía	...	Pablo Escobar
Robert Farrior	...	Oliver North
Morgan Hinkleman	...	Christina

Storyline

Barry Seal was just an ordinary pilot who worked for TWA before he was recruited by the CIA in 1978. His work in South America eventually caught the eye of the Medellín Cartel, associated with Pablo Escobar, who needed a man with his skill set. Barry became a drug trafficker, gun smuggler and money launderer. Soon acquiring the title, 'The gringo that always delivers'.

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Plot Keywords:

based on real person | airplane pilot | year 1978 | colombia | 1980s | 

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Taglines:

The sky is never the limit.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout and some sexuality/nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tom Cruise is a qualified pilot. He did all of his own flying scenes during filming.

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Goofs

The Porsche 911 seen at a Barry's wedding party had aftermarket cross spoke wheels of a design that did not exist until the early-1990s.

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Quotes

Barry Seal: Either I fly the big fella or I fly your product.

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Crazy Credits

Sarah Wright is credited as Sarah Wright Olsen in the main credits, but as Sarah Wright in the cast list during the credit scroll.

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Connections

Referenced in American Made: Cruise and Liman - A Conversation (2017)

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Soundtracks

Behind Closed Doors
Written by Kenny O'Dell
Performed by Charlie Rich
Courtesy of Columbia Nashville
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Cruise and Liman make a great pair again

Always reliable if not exactly visionary, director Doug Liman has another entertaining outing with Tom Cruise, reinventing his charm, swagger and grin as tools for finding easy cash and marital respect when honest work doesn't exactly get one far enough.

Cruise plays a totally reprehensible and despicable character and yet manages to keep everyone invested in the ride that accelerates with every misstep on the way, fully captivating the audience to wait for the extent of the looming train wreck. Cruise is entirely game here, not once trying to make audience feel sorry for his character or thinking that maybe he had a heart of gold, after all.

Worth pointing out is also a stellar turn from a less prolific Domhnall Gleeson whose ambitious CIA operator is equally blind, naive and brilliant, and Gleeson makes his oily presence wonderfully effective.

Details

Country:

USA Japan Colombia

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

29 September 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mena

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,776,390, 1 October 2017

Gross USA:

$51,342,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$134,866,593

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cross Creek Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Quadrant Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1 Dolby Atmos SDDS DTS (DTS: X) Auro 11.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1