American Made

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • American Made

    (spoilers)
    Towards the 3rd act, did the Barry Seal character (Tom Cruise) know his brother in law's car was going to be bombed?

  • #2
    Re: American Made

    Been a couple of weeks since I saw this (liked it overall), but I don't think he knew, no.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: American Made

      Originally posted by Friday View Post
      (spoilers)
      Towards the 3rd act, did the Barry Seal character (Tom Cruise) know his brother in law's car was going to be bombed?
      *spoilers*

      I understand the film departs in some ways from the script I read some time back, which was titled 'Mena'. But I have heard, the scene in which his brother-in-law is killed, is the same. Although Barry is very well aware that the CIA is going to try to kill his brother-in-law, and thus is trying to help him escape from the country, he is shocked when it happens, and struggles to conceal his guilt and anguish from his wife and family.

      Worth mentioning that much has been written about how much the film departs from the actual life of Seal, who had already been freelancing with the CIA for twenty years by the time he started flying the surveillance and arms-for-drugs missions for them. For those familair with Stone's 'JFK', Seal had been flying since his teenage years, during which he was trained by David Ferrie as a member of the Civil Air Patrol in New Orleans. So he knew Oswald and the other Miami-New Orleans based anti-Castro Cubans very well. Anyone interested in learning about the real Barry Seal might check out the website (sorry, don't have URL) of Daniel Hopsicker, the author of 'Barry and the Boys', the book on which the script was based.

      Very few in the MSM have been willing to connect the dots from 'Killing the Messenger' (2014), the story of Gary Webb's discovery that the CIA was flying coke into the country for the Contras, to this film, about the pilot who led the team that actually smuggled in 5-6 billion worth of that coke that ended up on the streets of the U.S.. Wonder why?

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: American Made

        *spoilers*

        The cartel blew up his brother-in-law's car, not the CIA.

        Also, I don't believe Barry knew it was going down that way. He was concerned when the cartel said they'd "take care of it" but he had no idea they would blow up his car.
        NOTES / COVERAGE
        15,000+ Screenplays
        [email protected]

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: American Made

          I was digging the Barry Seal character until the bombing of his brother in law. Even though, Barry Seal (the character) was very shady, the humor of his shadiness made him endearing, plus his wife. I had thought that he didn't want his brother in law to be killed...but, it did give me pause when he started covering up the car and then I wasn't as sure. Yes, the brother in law character was shady and an idiot, but I felt it was undeserved, plus I mostly felt sorry for Barry's wife who lost a brother. I think the wife character was what kept it interesting for me because it raised the stakes. If Barry was single, I wouldn't have been as nervous what happened to him because just like in the mob, he knew the risks. The real life story is very sad. The movie did a good job with the dark humor. It made the movie much better than I expected.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: American Made

            Originally posted by EvilRbt View Post
            *spoilers*

            The cartel blew up his brother-in-law's car, not the CIA.

            Also, I don't believe Barry knew it was going down that way. He was concerned when the cartel said they'd "take care of it" but he had no idea they would blow up his car.
            Hi Andrew,

            This may have been a change in the film from the script, which makes it quite clear that the brother-in-law character (called Doughboy in the script, JB in the film) is killed by the CIA character Monty Schafer. A few pages earlier, in the non-linear V.O., Barry says that he knows that CIA wants his brother-in-law 'in the ground', for fear that he'll crack under questioning and reveal their operation. Below is an excerpt from script p. 68 of 'Mena'.


            Then...
            KABOOM!!!!!
            Car bomb. Dough Boy's car is BLOWN SKY HIGH.
            Barry can't believe his eyes. He sits watching the flaming wreckage. Stunned. Trembling.
            EXT. BLUFF - HUNDRED YARDS FROM THE EXPLOSION
            Monty Schafer watches the fireball down below car. A DETONATOR on the seat beside him. He on puts his foot on the gas and drives away.
            INT. BARRY'S HOME - GARAGE - NIGHT
            An hour later. Barry catatonic in his parked leaned against the wheel, shaken to his soul.


            FADE OUT.

            Below, I've linked the 'Mena' script. The sequence relevant to the OP's question is ca. pp.65-70.

            This was publicly available, but if there are any IP issues involved in my posting the script here, the moderators should, of course, bust my post.

            https://doc-04-b0-docs.googleusercon...OEk?e=download

            I haven't yet seen the film yet, and may not for awhile, but will try to post when i do.

            BTW, not a frequent visitor here but I always appreciate the insight and intelligence of your posts, Andrew.

            Best,

            CN

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: American Made

              Spoilers

              I also thought the cartel blew up the car, but interesting, I guess it could have been the CIA.

              Either way, the movie was still remarkably average, and I don't understand the high praise it got.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: American Made

                Originally posted by Captain Nemo View Post
                Hi Andrew,

                This may have been a change in the film from the script, which makes it quite clear that the brother-in-law character (called Doughboy in the script, JB in the film) is killed by the CIA character Monty Schafer. A few pages earlier, in the non-linear V.O., Barry says that he knows that CIA wants his brother-in-law 'in the ground', for fear that he'll crack under questioning and reveal their operation. Below is an excerpt from script p. 68 of 'Mena'.


                Then...
                KABOOM!!!!!
                Car bomb. Dough Boy's car is BLOWN SKY HIGH.
                Barry can't believe his eyes. He sits watching the flaming wreckage. Stunned. Trembling.
                EXT. BLUFF - HUNDRED YARDS FROM THE EXPLOSION
                Monty Schafer watches the fireball down below car. A DETONATOR on the seat beside him. He on puts his foot on the gas and drives away.
                INT. BARRY'S HOME - GARAGE - NIGHT
                An hour later. Barry catatonic in his parked leaned against the wheel, shaken to his soul.


                FADE OUT.

                Below, I've linked the 'Mena' script. The sequence relevant to the OP's question is ca. pp.65-70.

                This was publicly available, but if there are any IP issues involved in my posting the script here, the moderators should, of course, bust my post.

                https://doc-04-b0-docs.googleusercon...OEk?e=download

                I haven't yet seen the film yet, and may not for awhile, but will try to post when i do.

                BTW, not a frequent visitor here but I always appreciate the insight and intelligence of your posts, Andrew.

                Best,

                CN
                After speaking with someone who saw the film, it's apparent that it does, in fact, imply that the brother-in-law character is killed by the cartel -- there is no cut to the Domhnall Gleason CIA character sitting next to a detonator, as in the 'Mena' script. Based on his comments, it sounds as though Seal's relationship with his family and the damage he realized he had done to them has also been greatly minimized and that the brother-in-law has been transformed from a naive dufus into a much less sympathetic sleazebag, so that his death has less of an impact.

                A couple of other details mentioned: he said that the audience didn't notice that the 'Texan' sits next to in the WH waiting area is Bush 43, who was a friend of Seal's and who acquired (maybe legally) the tricked-out C-123, dubbed the 'Fat Lady', in which Seal flew all his drug runs, after the pilot's death. Also, there is no WH meeting with Bush 41, then VP, who was following Seal's activites closely, and was, of course, a former director of the CIA. After hearing all this, can't say I'm too eager to see a film whose early script promised much more.

                BTW, I understand why the moderator(s) might have removed the 'Mena' script. For anyone interested in checking it out, it can be found on Reddit - look for a link to the Black List scripts of 2014.

                Comment

                Working...
                X