Universal has released the first American Made trailer. Directed by Doug Liman, the movie stars Tom Cruise and is based on the true story of Barry Seal, a U.S. pilot recruited by the CIA to work in a covert operations.

As you can see from the trailer, the film looks like it’s covering some familiar ground with an everyman gets caught up in a life of crime and becomes corrupted by the power and wealth that crime affords him. And yet I can’t help but be excited to see Cruise taking on material that might stretch a dramatic muscle he hasn’t really used in a while. While the trailer does lean more on the comedic/outrageous side, it’s nice to see Cruise back playing a real person rather than an action hero. Furthermore, it appears to be the kind of character that Cruise has excelled at recently—the guy who is way out of his depth. Although it’s certainly nice to see Cruise as a guy with all the answers in the Mission: Impossible movies, he’s far more charming in movies like Edge of Tomorrow.

It will also be interesting to see if this movie is part of the awards race or if it’s just a nice bit of fall programming for Universal. There’s not really a serious beat in this trailer, so I’m thinking that it’s probably not being put forward as an Oscar contender. Nevertheless, I’m still excited to check it out.

Check out the American Made trailer below. The film opens September 29th and also stars Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright, E. Roger Mitchell, Jesse Plemons, Lola Kirke, Alejandro Edda, Benito Martinez, Caleb Landry Jones, and Jayma Mays.

Here’s the official synopsis for American Made:

In Universal Pictures’ American Made, Tom Cruise reunites with his Edge of Tomorrow director, Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith), in this international escapade based on the outrageous (and real) exploits of a hustler and pilot unexpectedly recruited by the CIA to run one of the biggest covert operations in U.S. history.

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