Its a thorny story that takes place against the backdrop of the reaganera war on drugs and the notorious iran contra. But as the movie covers a subjectthe intersection of the 1980s drug trade with the covert wars in central americathat was deliberately ignored by major media at the time, and has been little examined by historians subsequently well have to wait at least another decade for ken burns iran contra, its worth looking at which. American made is a fascinating biopic about barry seal, a commercial pilot who worked with the cia to run drugs and guns in south america. Whats truetolife and whats artistic license in tom cruises new biopic about barry seal and iran contra. The story of barry seal, an american pilot who became a drugrunner for the cia in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the irancontra affair.
Its a thorny story that takes place against the backdrop of the reagan era war on drugs and the notorious irancontra affair, with seal never. These plans were apparently aborted when the irancontra scandal broke in november 1986. American made was a good watch the story keeps a good steady momentum, the direction and editing are vibrant and dynamic. Barry seal, a reallife, albeit minor, figure in the irancontra scandal, takes center stage in the. Nov 24, 2006 twenty years later, the iran contra affair continues to resonate on many levels, especially as washington gears up for a new season of political inquiry with the pending inauguration of the 110th congress and the seeming inevitability of hearings into a range of bush administration policies. The series debuted in 1987 as a coinoperated arcade game titled contra, which was followed by the release of super contra in 1988 and several sequels produced for. The series debuted in 1987 as a coinoperated arcade game titled contra, which was followed by the release of super contra in 1988 and several sequels produced for various home platforms. Caso irancontra, popularized in iran as the mcfarlane affair, the irancontra scandal, or simply irancontra, was a political scandal in the united states that occurred during the second term of the reagan administration. The irancontra affair 20 years on national security archive. Jan 11, 2017 the lasting effects of irancontra are primarily these, and they are related to our national reputation. Written by enzo mileti and scott wilson the callback, the. A comicbook movie, a heist movie, and a biopic about the iran contra affair might not seem to have much in common, but in the new trailers for each of these movies.
President ronald reagan holds a news conference and takes question on the iran arms and contra aid c duration. Oct 10, 2017 but as the movie covers a subjectthe intersection of the 1980s drug trade with the covert wars in central americathat was deliberately ignored by major media at the time, and has been little examined by historians subsequently well have to wait at least another decade for ken burns irancontra, its worth looking at which. Barry seal, a reallife, albeit minor, figure in the irancontra scandal, takes center. Even then, the story wasnt about the hostages in the embassy, but the handful holedup at the canadian ambassadors residence. I make no budget independent films and music myself. Set during the runup to the iran contra scandal of the 1980s, twa pilot barry seal tom cruise is recruited by the. He was hired by trans world airlines twa in 1964 and at age 26 became one of the youngest captains operating a boeing 707. It has the vibes of something like wolf of wall st or a guy ritchie film, where despite the nature of the events you find yourself rooting for a criminal and laughing at the black comedy of how things unfold. Contra is a video game series produced by konami composed primarily of run and gunstyle shoot em ups. The cia sets up a contra training base in mena and seal flies the contras in, but many of them escape as soon as they arrive. Sep 29, 2017 whats truetolife and whats artistic license in tom cruises new biopic about barry seal and irancontra. American made is a 2017 american action comedy film directed by doug liman, written by gary spinelli, and starring tom cruise, domhnall gleeson, sarah wright, alejandro edda, mauricio mejia, caleb landry jones, and jesse plemons. If you see the movie, youll see there is something amazing about how it helps a man grow up to learn he cannot get away with everything forever. Irancontra investigation day 24 north answers questions concerning money handling and decision making in the enterprise, the network of private companies used to sell arms july 10, 1987.
Fawn hall born 1959 is a former secretary to lieutenant colonel oliver north and a notable figure in the iran contra affair by helping him shred confidential documents. Its a thorny story that takes place against the backdrop of the reaganera war on drugs and the notorious irancontra. American made trailer 2017 tom criuse biopic comedy movie. American made version of iran contra affair oozes shaggydog charm. Behind the iran contra affair could be believed, audiences would probably take to the streets, toppling statues and screaming, off with their heads.
It is inspired by the life of barry seal, a former twa pilot who flew missions for the cia, and became a drug smuggler for the medellin cartel in the 1980s. Contras, coke and criminal white house collusion, all american made posted on september 27, 2017 by rogerinorlando american made gives tom cruise his goodfellas, and brings doug the bourne identity liman back from the directing wilderness. What an iran contra film needs is a hook like the iranian hostage story had in argo. Drug trafficking was a much less convoluted method of skirting the congressional ban on funding the contras, and the cias inspector general found that in the early years after congress cut off contra funding, the cia had alerted congress about the allegations of drug trafficking. The cia, the contras, and the cocaine explosion webb, gary, waters, maxine on. In 1986 its spokesman acknowledged that funds from sales of cocaine smuggled into the us had helped fund the contra rebels, but said that the smuggling was not authorized by the us. Why hasnt there been a movie made about iran contra. Limans film joins a growing canon of productions that dramatize irancontrarelated stories, including the 2017 fx tv series snowfall and 2014 biopic starring jeremy renner as investigative reporter gary webb, kill the messenger. Sep 28, 2017 american made is an irancontra movie that gets high on its own supply the new movie is one that director doug liman has been making for 15 years and tom cruise has been making for almost 35. Its a thorny story that takes place against the backdrop of the reaganera war on drugs and the notorious irancontra affair, with seal never. In the movie, seal is an ace pilot whose daredevil streak leads him from twa. Yet it is also a failure to reevaluate liberalisms old hysteria about iran contra. The new movie is one that director doug liman has been making for 15 years and tom cruise has been making for almost 35. Set during the runup to the irancontra scandal of the 1980s, twa pilot barry seal tom cruise is recruited by the.
Shot with the grainy colors of a yellowed photo album from the 80s, the movie takes a larky and entertaining look at a. Had barry seal really been a commercial airline pilot for twa. Colin farrell to star in oliver north irancontra limited. The movie centers around hathaways character elena mcmahon who is a journalist covering the iran contra affair and she quickly finds herself in dangerous territory.
American made is a 2017 american action comedy film directed by doug liman, written by. Podcast fiascos season two tackles irancontra right on. Find out the answers to all of these american empire questions. Support the guardian available for everyone, funded by readers.
New tom cruise movie slammed for abusing facts to attack. In this episode, chris calton explains how the potent mix of politicans and fake news created the myth of the crack baby. American made is an iran contra movie that gets high on its own supply the new movie is one that director doug liman has been making for 15 years and tom cruise has been making for almost 35. Jul 14, 2017 the true story behind the new movie argo about how cia operatives posing as a hollywood production team rescued six americans hiding in iran during the 1979 embassy crisis. American made is a disconnected rumination on american. Tom cruise is drugrunning maverick in american made. Caso iran contra, popularized in iran as the mcfarlane affair, the iran contra scandal, or simply iran contra, was a political scandal in the united states that occurred during the second term of the reagan administration. Irancontra investigation day 24 north answers questions concerning money handling and decision making in the enterprise, the network of private. And some of what it presents has become part of the official record of the case. Colin farrell is returning to the small screen to play oliver north in an amazon tv show about the iran contra affair. Amazon is developing a limited drama series about oliver north and the iran contra affair, with colin farrell attached to star as north. Major motion picture based on dark alliance and starring jeremy renner, kill the messenger, to be be released in fall 2014 in august 1996, pulitzer prizewinning journalist gary webb stunned the world with a series of articles in the san jose mercury news reporting the results of his yearlong investigation into the roots of the crack cocaine epidemic in america. Because the reagan campaign was willing to trade arms for hostages and even bargain to have the iranians hold the hostages until reagans inau. The true story behind operation argo to rescue americans.
Season two of fiasco untangles over the course of eight episodes the convoluted and largely forgotten 1980s scandal known as the iran contra affair, in which reagan administration officials. The announcement of his decision led to violent protests in iran culminating in the storming of the us embassy in teheran which began the iran hostage crisis. Key figures in ciacrack cocaine scandal begin to come. Jun 09, 20 president ronald reagan holds a news conference and takes question on the iran arms and contra aid c duration. Mar 17, 2020 a pardoned iran contra american spy won his bid for mayor of tiny palm beach shores, an unneighborly clash between neighbors resulted in likely defeat for a lantana councilman and the first. American made trailer 2017 tom cruise movie youtube. The true story behind the new movie argo about how cia operatives posing as a hollywood production team rescued six americans hiding in iran during the 1979 embassy crisis. If the movie has a reason to be, it is as compilation of alreadyknown iran contra data.
Colin farrell to star as oliver north in irancontra series. Mar 20, 2017 colin farrell is returning to the small screen to play oliver north in an amazon tv show about the iran contra affair. Jose bueso rosa reagan administration officials interceded on behalf of jose bueso rosa, a honduran general who was heavily involved with the cias contra operations and faced trial for his role in a massive drug shipment to the united states. Barry seal, a twa pilot, is recruited by the cia to provide.
Colin farrell to star as oliver north in irancontra. Cia involvement in trafficking is usually alleged to be connected to the contra war in nicaragua and the irancontra affair during the reagan administration. The new tom cruise movie, american made, is the most fun there is in theaters this weekend. Ben affleck joins anne hathaway in netflix movie the last. The true story behind the movie american made time. According to author del hahn, who wrote the book smugglers end, next to barrys yearbook photo was the description, full of fun, full of folly time. Doug liman has finally made a movie about irancontra, and tom cruise has finally made a movie about a hotshot pilot. Most of all it had the entire cia science fiction movie angle which almost no one in the public knew about.
Fantasy casting the scandal that rocked the reagan white house. During the 1980s, the war on drugs became defined by cocaine and crack. Cruise and sarah wright in american made 2017 tom cruise and domhnall gleeson in. Sep 29, 2017 the movie hardly purports to be a documentary. The spanish movies and shows on netflix with the highest.
Barry seal was a ballsy and confident risk taker, who rarely acknowledged the possibility of failure, and thats just how tom cruise portrays him in the american made movie. Cinema offers curbside popcorn pickup for your home movie viewing. The irancontra affair is being turned into a miniseries. American made sheds light on shady arkansas airfield deals.
The irancontra scandal nearly destroyed reagans presidency and could have led to his impeachment. The story of barry seal, an american pilot who became a drugrunner for the cia in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the iran contra affair. How iran and contra came to be said in the same breath was the result of complicated covert activities, all carried out, the players said, in the name of democracy. American made version of irancontra affair oozes shaggy. Like in the movie, the american made true story reveals that barry made a living as a commercial airline pilot for several years. Theres only one mention of bill clinton in tom cruises new movie, american made, which is about a washingtonsponsored operation in the early 1980s to send guns to rebel forces in. Tom cruises aviator sunglasses cant disguise the flaws in this playful but shallow take on 80s pilot barry seals dealings with drug cartels and.
With jeremy renner, robert patrick, jena sims, robert pralgo. The iran contra affair is being turned into a mini series. Barry seal, a reallife, albeit minor, figure in the iran contra. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to the. In october 1979 president jimmy carter made the decision to allow the exiled shah into america for medical treatment. Tom cruise, domhnall gleeson, sarah wright, jesse plemons. Who are the contras from the iran contra scandal and why did ronald regan arm them. Cia involvement in contra cocaine trafficking wikipedia. Armitage, carlucci and friends posted on april 8, 2012 by kevin ryan dick cheney and donald rumsfeld are among the leading suspects in the crimes of september 11, 2001. American made, in theaters september 29, 2017, is rated r. Enough cold, hard cash to make the phenomenon of raining money a plausible ecological scenario.