VOD Spotlight: American Made
In American Made, which is based on a true story, Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) is a commercial pilot shuttling passengers from city to city in a thoroughly unfulfilling job. When the CIA comes calling, he gets a chance to take his flying skills to another level as he begins working for a number of different government agencies and maybe even a drug cartel in a new life far from that of an average pilot.
Doug Limon, who directed the film, says the movie is “a fun lie based on a true story,” and offers that he has long appreciated stories of improbable heroes working against the system. “Barry Seal took the government, and our country, for an unbelievable ride,” reveals the filmmaker. “Interpreting his story has the makings for an entertaining film that is equal parts satire, suspense and comedy — and always surprising.”
Liman loved the fact that, while so many films have been made about people being run over by the government, Seal’s story was one of someone “who screwed over the White House. Barry is a zealot-like character who really did cross paths with so many household names from the ’80s—ranging from Ronald Reagan and Manuel Noriega to Bill Clinton and Oliver North.”
Cruise admits that he gravitated toward this wild story because he’d never met a character like this one. He shares: “Mark Twain’s one of my favorite writers, and I think he informed the tone of Gary’s writing. Barry Seal lived in a very unique time that we’ll never have again in aviation, or in history. He had this incredibly adventurous life, and one that is just beyond belief. He was a character walking through history. It was just too outrageous to believe, and in this day and age, it’s something that will never happen again.”
Not only was Cruise fascinated by Seal’s pioneering spirit, but also how dichotomous this man was. “Barry was a great pilot, and a man who loved his family,” he states. “Still, he’s very much an antihero who wanted an adventurous life. I don’t condone the things he did, but you can’t help but see that he had this wish fulfillment. He was someone who lived beyond the rules in a way that was unique to that time period in aviation. Today, everything’s very controlled and corporate, and air spaces are contained. The things that he and his other pilots were able to do were outrageous.”
“I also don’t make a movie just to make a movie,” Cruise, who does all of his own flying in the movie, continues. “What interests me is the passion of cinema and storytelling, that’s when it gets very exciting. It’s not just a job; I love this too much and want to push myself and surround myself with people who have that same sensibility and sense of exploration to make movies.”
American Made is available On Demand beginning Jan. 2. Check your cable system for availability.
