AMERICAN MADE (2017)

Genre: Thriller / Comedy / Drama
Running Length: 1:55
Cast: Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright, Caleb Landry Jones, Jesse Plemons
Director: Doug Liman
Screenplay: Gary Spinelli

As fun as AMERICAN MADE was, I sincerely think that Tom Cruise is miscast here. For starters, he doesn't look anything like the real Barry Seal (a chubby pilot who worked for both the CIA and the Colombian cartel in the 1980s), eventhough some critics said that Cruise channels the same "spirit" as Seal. Don't get me wrong, Mr Cruise does some fine work here. Some would even say he has return to form. But what could have been more believable is for Tom to really pack on a few pounds like what Christian Bale did in American Hustle

This biopic is about the life of Barry Seal, a hot shot maverick commercial pilot who got himself drawn into working with the CIA. The events that followed suit got more bizarre, bigger and crazier, all in the name of chasing after the American dream. I read somewhere that this movie felt like a cross between The Wolf of Wall Street and Top Gun.  

What didn't work for me is that as the turn of events got more bizarre and dangerous, Seal always "gets away". Thus, after a while I didn't feel any real tension because I know Cruise will somehow escape and still flash his signature mega-watt smile. We don't get to see Seal struggle through the moral dilemma of his actions and somehow gets the audience to feel sympathetic for him (eventhough what he does is not really nice).

What I learn from this movie is that sometimes learning when to stop and surrender - will make all the difference.

RATING: 6.5/10

EDGE OF TOMORROW (2014)

Genre: Science Fiction/Action
Running Length: 1:53
Cast: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton
Director: Doug Liman
 
Here's the good news for Tom Cruise haters. In his new film, EDGE OF TOMORROW, he dies! In fact, Cruise's character dies dozens of times over and over, often in creative and comical ways. The movie unfolds in a straight fashion manner where in the near future, an invading alien race threatens to wipe out humanity (just like any other sci-fi film). Cruise's character is a military PR spokesman who has never set foot on the battlefield suddenly found himself stationed in the frontline for a battle which looked like the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. And here's where the plot gets smarter and sharper than one would expect. Minutes into the battle, he dies. But a funny thing happens. He wakes up to discover that he’s back at the beginning of the previous day. No matter what he does, his death returns him to that same point, forcing him to "live.die.repeat" the same period of time again and again. This is "Groundhog Day" with heavy firepower. Another good change from a typical Cruise's flick is that he doesn't dominate it but shares equal screen time with Emily Blunt's "full metal b****" character who gets all the best one-liners. If there's anything disappointing about the film, I would say it's the weak resolution because everything leading to it was smart but I felt the film makers could have been more bold with the ending. Nevertheless it's an entertaining movie as the plot keeps moving forward (albeit in circles).

Rating: 7/10