Tom Cruise is back in the pilot’s seat with this year’s ‘American Made’ directed by Doug Liman, who is following his confined war drama in ‘The Wall’ which also released earlier this year. I’ve been eagerly awaiting ‘American Made’ because it has Cruise, Liman, and is a crime drama based on true events, all three of these aspects are right up my alley so you could imagine my excitement. Unfortunately for me, ‘American Made’ feels like a haphazard, lazy attempt at recreating what Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio accomplished with 2013’s ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. When I think about Liman’s past directorial efforts I see a director who seamlessly streamline’s his films with focus, organization, and his priorities set in stone. With ‘American Made’ I am really unsure of what Liman was going for. At times it felt like a documentary, and others like your typical based on true events biopic of an anti-hero played by a likable face. When I say the first quarter of this movie is as rough as they come, I mean it when I say that it’s not an easy take-off. Throughout the movie Liman manages to avoid the turbulence by actually dissecting plot points instead of editing his way away from them. The editing is disastrous and tries to convey a fun and quick paced manner but pumps the brakes too often and early. Instead of envisioning what is an amazing story and surely a thrilling script, Liman almost seems like he’s trying to make this an experimental film. He flirts with weird editing techniques, jarring and inconsistent camerawork, and lackluster direction. Had this movie had a better director behind the lens we may have ended up with one of the year’s best films. On a positive note, I was never bored with ‘American Made’ or finding myself wishing it would end. Being the sucker that I am for this genre it was thrilling to get some insight into the late 70s and early 80s drug and weapons trade in Central America. It’s something that obviously isn’t taught in the classroom, or something your parents bring up, but something that movies like this want to teach us about. There are clear fabrications to any “Based on a True Story” film to dramatize the film, but the basic principle is still there and insightful. Tom Cruise and Domnhall Gleeson also have a blast in this film. They are clearly enjoying the roles they are playing and it just furthers my love for Gleeson as a young actor working today. In conclusion, ‘American Made’ is a perfectly fine movie with exciting performances and an engaging narrative despite Doug Liman’s frustrating vision for this story. It attempts to implement this comedic style with shaky close-ups and quick zooms in and out but it feels like he ditches his methods midway through. ‘American Made’ isn’t a bad film but it is certainly on the brink of crashing and burning on it’s way to it’s final destination. ‘American Made’ gets a 62/100