[6] It is inspired[7] by the life of Barry Seal, a former TWA pilot who became a drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel in the 1980s and then, in order to avoid jail time, became an informant for the DEA.
It is the first film directed by Liman to be released by Universal Pictures since The Bourne Identity in 2002, and played in 2D and IMAX in select theaters.
[10] In 1978, Baton Rouge pilot Barry Seal, who flies commercial jets for TWA, is recruited by CIA case officer Monty Schafer.
He asks Seal, who has been smuggling Cuban cigars into the country, to fly reconnaissance missions over Central America using an Aerostar 600, outfitted with aerial surveillance cameras.
To avoid the authorities, Seal and his family relocate to Mena, Arkansas, and his wife comes to accept the wealth generated by his side job.
Eventually, the CIA shuts down the program and abandons Seal, who is arrested by the FBI, DEA, ATF and Arkansas State Police simultaneously.
Seal escapes prosecution by making a deal with the White House, which wants evidence of the Sandinistas being drug traffickers.
Seal is prominently shown in the pictures, which leads to his indictment by the crusading state attorney general, and the cartel plotting revenge.
As his community service is performed at the same Salvation Army building every night, Seal cannot hide from the cartel and is shot dead by assassins.
The CIA destroys all evidence connecting them to Seal and continues smuggling, instead using Iran to get guns to the Contras, as proposed by Schafer.
[11]The film was originally titled Mena and in 2014 was featured on The Black List, a survey showcasing the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood.
[12] On January 14, 2015, it was announced that Tom Cruise and Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman would reunite for what was originally titled Mena.
A plane crash on the set of the film in Colombia on September 11, 2015, killed two people and caused serious injuries to another member of the crew.
The plane (a twin-engine Piper Aerostar), which was carrying crew members (three American pilots), was returning to Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellín when it ran into bad weather and the crash occurred.
[23] It made $960,000 from Thursday night previews, the lowest total by a Cruise-led film in recent years, and $6.1 million on its first day.
The site's critical consensus states, "American Made's fast-and-loose attitude with its real-life story mirrors the cavalier – and delightfully watchable – energy Tom Cruise gives off in the leading role.
[24] Variety's Guy Lodge wrote: "A sweat-slicked, exhausting but glibly entertaining escapade on its own terms, American Made is more interesting as a showcase for the dateless elasticity of Cruise's star power.
"[29] Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "This is yet another hyper-competent, boyishly devil-may-care character that offers Cruise, famous for his derring-do on set, a chance to do his own stunts and fly a plane; it's not a role all that far out of the ageing megastar's wheelhouse.
[32] Seal was unapologetic about his weapons and drug smuggling operations, even stating once in a television interview, "Whether you call it soldier of fortune or what, it's a way of life for me.