American Made dramatizes the stranger-than-fiction story of drug-smuggling pilot Barry Seal but ultimately builds up to an alarming ending.
Summary
- American Made exposes the behind-the-scenes politics of the drug trade in the 1980s, shedding light on the complex bigger picture.
- Barry Seal's death is believed to have been orchestrated by the drug cartel for revealing sensitive information to the DEA, but conspiracy theories also suggest CIA involvement.
- The ending of American Made hints at the Iran-Contra scandal, showcasing how the CIA funded right-wing militants through selling American firearms in Iran.
American Made recreates the dramatic true story of Barry Seal, a commercial pilot who smuggled pile-loads of million-dollar drugs, only to become a DEA informant and then meet an unfortunate end. Tom Cruise reunited with Edge of Tomorrow filmmaker Doug Liman to play Seal in the 2017 biopic. Earning positive reactions from critics and audiences alike, American Made had its fair share of creative liberties, but it still did a faithful job of exposing the behind-the-scenes politics of the drug trade in the 1980s. While Seal did make a fortune out of his high-profile drug operations, he was just a part of the more complex bigger picture.
The American Made ending exemplifies the socio-political realities of the era by not only delving into Seal’s untimely death but also the steps that the American government took in its aftermath. From Moby’s goosebumps-inducing “Extreme Ways” establishing a Bourne movie tradition in The Bourne Identity to John Newman’s rousing ballad “Love Me Again” closing Edge of Tomorrow, Doug Liman’s best movies end with iconic tracks. American Made is no exception as its climatic events play in the backdrop of The Heavy’s power anthem “What Makes A Good Man.” Even though the song is a 2012 release, the ending reveals some era-defining moments of the' 80s.
Why Is Barry Seal Killed?
After years of flying stealth-heavy missions for the CIA and later smuggling drugs for Pablo Escobar’s Medellin Cartel, Barry Seal is at his wit’s end by American Made’s third act. Following a desperate attempt to crash-land a plan to evade arrest from the DEA, Seal gives himself up to the authorities. In the tradition of classic crime movie finales like the ending of Goodfellas or The Wolf of Wall Street, Seal willingly gives up his information and contacts to the DEA in exchange for protection. For his illicit operations, the ever-smiling aviator is still punished. Serving his sentence of 1,000 hours of community service, all seems to be fine for Seal.
This is, of course, until he gets mysteriously shot dead. The American Made ending suggests that the cartel had him murdered for revealing sensitive information to the DEA. More or less, this is the general theory that is accepted to explain Seal’s death even as conspiracy theories on the Internet suggest that his murder might have been orchestrated by the CIA itself. In fact, Seal’s widow Deborah DuBois Seal even told The Daily Mail in 2017 that the US government didn’t do much to protect her husband after he came clean as an informant. She adds that even she doesn’t know who exactly might have been behind Seal’s assassination.
Why The CIA Destroyed All Connections With Seal
Even though the CIA’s involvement in hiring Barry Seal subsequently became public knowledge, American Made suggests that the secret agency immediately destroyed all evidence connecting it with the infamous aviator after he was murdered. While there is no concrete evidence to support how the CIA hid such evidence, it is probably standard agency protocol to hide all connections after a major drug supplier like Seal died. Even before he got involved with the Cartel, the CIA’s instructions to Seal to conduct aerial surveillance over Central America were always meant to be a hushed-up affair. However, it must be noted that Monty Schafer, the CIA officer who recruited Seal, was fictional.
How The CIA Funded The Contras
While Domhnall Gleeson’s character Monty Schafer wasn’t real and was just created to represent the collective state of CIA at the time, Monty’s actions at the very end of American Made are of utmost importance in American history. Moments after Barry Seal’s death, an elated Monty is found suggesting to his seniors to fund the Nicaraguan right-wing militant group Contras through all the funds that the Agency can secure by selling American firearms in Iran. This strategy did work as a perfect way to replace the funds that were otherwise raised by Seal’s constant drug-smuggling operations. Hence, within just a matter of seconds, American Made hints at the Iran-Contra scandal.
To make the ending more realistic, the final seconds also feature actual archival footage of then-President Ronald Reagan and then-Vice President George Bush being questioned about claims of America arming Iranian terrorists to wage war elsewhere in Latin American countries. Both leaders are shown dodging journalists’ questions even though it’s left for the viewer to deduce what actually happened. By now, it’s common knowledge that the Iran-Contra affair was an effort by the Reagan administration to oust the left-leaving government in Nicaragua at a time when the Cold War was still in effect. As for Barry Seal, he was unfortunately just a pawn who was forgotten after his death.
What Happened To Lucy Seal?
Barry Seal’s wife Lucy is played by Sarah Wright in American Made, the character being a dramatized version of Seal’s third wife Deborah DuBois Seal. The final scene of American Made features Lucy and her three children resettling in Baton Rouge where she works as a waitress. Following her husband’s death, it’s clear that she picked up a job at a fast-food restaurant to make ends meet. This is in stark contrast with the upscale life she led earlier, thanks to Seal’s million-dollar missions. But as the camera zooms in on an expensive-looking bracelet on Lucy’s wrist, the ending suggests that maybe, she hasn’t parted from all her wealth.
The real-life fate of Deborah Seal was similar as she told The Daily Mail that she and her children had to struggle financially following her husband’s death. In the same interview, she also revealed that she had actually crossed paths with Barry first when she was working as a waitress. It’s only an ill-fated irony that the American Made ending finds Deborah’s on-screen version Lucy picking up a waitressing job. It’s unclear how much Deborah Seal paid by the movie’s producers to secure the rights to her husband’s life story, but she did add that she had been living only a modest life for the past few decades.
The Real Meaning Of American Made's Ending
Some of Tom Cruise’s best movies have offered introspective critiques of the military and the government. Born on the Fourth of July, A Few Good Men and Lions for Lambs are some cases in point. One way or the other, American Made continues this tradition for Cruise, and it exposes how America’s militaristic hegemony can influence global geopolitics at a concerning level. Doug Liman doesn’t rely on any preachy discourse to criticize the corruption behind the drug trade as the ending of American Made shows, the director crafts an entertaining yet alarming attempt to satirize the inner workings of an infamous secret agency.
