The Big Picture

• Tom Cruise's dedication to his craft is best known, often risking his own life for stunning action sequences, much like the characters he portrays.
• American Made is based on the life of Barry Seal, a real American pilot involved in smuggling activities and recruited by the CIA for top-secret missions.
• While the film includes elements from Seal's life, certain segments were sensationalized for entertainment purposes, making it a "fun lie based on a true story."

Between Ethan Hunt, Jack Reacher, and Jerry Maguire, Tom Cruise has played more than a few wild characters whose lives are completely ridiculous. Cruise’s dedication to his craft is perhaps his best-known attribute, as he has often risked his own life for the sake of creating a stunning action sequence. Perhaps Cruise looks for roles that say something about his own personality; his characters often have the same cocky charm and unflinching bravery that he does. It only made sense that Cruise would play the real American pilot Barry Seal in American Made, as Seal was just as much of a character in real life. Although the 2017 biopic included many of Seal’s real adventures, the film only scratches the surface of what really happened.

What Is ‘American Made’ About?

American Made explores how the Louisiana commercial TWA pilot Barry Seal was recruited by the enigmatic CIA case officer Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson), who discovered Seal’s illegal practice of smuggling Cuban cigars to Canada. While Seal claims that this is a common practice among commercial pilots, he realizes that any evidence of criminal activity on his part could cost him his job. To Seal’s surprise, Schafer isn’t there to catch Seal in action, but to recruit him for a top-secret mission. The CIA had taken note of Seal’s abilities; his adept flying skills make him virtually undetectable, and have made him into one of the most lucrative smugglers in the air. To waste Seal’s skills would be a disservice; Schafer wants Seal to help the CIA perform a series of top-secret reconnaissance missions in Central America as they observe the ongoing cartel war.

Seal agrees, and begins using the CIA’s retrofitted twin-engine Piper Smith Aerostar 600 to fly throughout Central America, taking photos of the ongoing conflict. Although Seal initially tells his wife Lucy (Sarah Wright) that his trips are nothing more than a series of routine flights for TWA, she quickly realizes that the cash that he is bringing home is not befitting of a standard commercial pilot. Seal has a knack for adventure, and doesn’t mind taking a few risky missions if it’s on the government’s watch. However, he begins to take on more dangerous assignments once Schafer asks him to serve as a commissary between the United States intelligence services and General Manuel Noriega, the authoritarian dictator that ruled Panama with an iron fist. While a standard CIA officer may have had trouble connecting with Noriega, Seal’s unofficial status made the Central American leaders less suspicious. Seal finds that he is in somewhat of a middle ground between the two parties; he isn’t technically a spy or a criminal.

Seal soon learns that playing both sides can be even more lucrative than his initial assignment. After returning from a surveillance mission, the Medellin Cartel recruits Seal to smuggle cocaine back into the United States. Instead of landing in official airports where he could be intercepted by U.S. officials, Seal chooses to dump his cargo outside in the Louisiana countryside. While the CIA begins to turn a blind eye to Seal’s activities due to their previous agreement, the DEA does not have any patience for him. Seal is tracked down by DEA and FBI agents as he continues to serve as an emissary for various cartel leaders. The situation grows dangerous when Seal becomes caught within the warring factions he represents. His eccentric brother-in-law JB (Caleb Landry Jones) is killed by a carb bomb planted by the Medellin Cartel after his reckless spending gains the attention of the FBI.

While Seal is initially caught by the FBI, he’s able to use his connections with central intelligence to broker a deal with The White House. Seal knows too many secrets about the country’s overseas activities and intervention in the drug war that he holds a surprising amount of leverage. However, Seal ended up paying the price for JB’s recklessness. After photos of Seal are released by the White House as propaganda, the CIA shuts down their convert program and ends up leaving Seal out to dry. Seal is convicted and sentenced for his crimes, but only ends up doing community service. Ironically, jail may have actually protected him, as Seal lives his last few days on the run. He continues moving from motel to motel as he avoids detection by the CIA and cartel. A car bomb kills Seal, but the CIA declines to make any official comments about his actions; Schafer actually ends up getting a promotion for the initial pitch he had made to Seal.

How Much of ‘American Made’ Is True?

While the events of American Made are based on Seal’s actual life, certain segments of the story were sensationalized for the sake of making an entertaining film. Director Doug Liman, who previously helmed Cruise in the 2014 science fiction film Edge of Tomorrow, admitted that the film is “a fun lie based on a true story.” American Made may have been one of Cruise’s best films in recent years, but it is not intended (or pretending to be) an entirely factual account of what actually happened to Seal.

Certain elements of the film are true; the real Seal did obtain his pilot’s license by the time that he was a teenager, and used his connections to the cartels and CIA to help negotiate his way out of a prison sentence with the DEA. Seal’s exact deal with the CIA is largely contested, as many details surrounding his actual assignments remain classified. Seal’s assassination in 1968 by two Columbian hitmen was observed by many witnesses. While reports indicate that Seal’s personality was indeed as colorful as Cruise made it out to be, the film’s notion that he was friendly with the Central American drug lords is largely fictional. Similarly, the real Seal did marry a woman named Lucy, but most elements of their relationship were dramatized for the sake of the film.

American Made is one of Cruise’s stronger efforts in recent years. While it’s great to see him reprise his role as Ethan Hunt and continue his legacy as the greatest action star of the generation, Cruise is often a much better actor than he is given credit for. It’s easy to forget that one of his breakthrough roles was in Oliver Stone’s biopic Born on the Fourth of July. It’s interesting to see Cruise strip away his persona to play a real person, but any notion that American Made is a “realistic” depiction of Seal’s life is entirely preposterous.

American Made is now available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

WATCH ON PRIME VIDEO