TheRetroCritic

With Narcos being such a huge hit on Netflix, it's not too surprising that a movie would come along to capitalise on the show's popularity. American Made stars Tom Cruise as a pilot tasked by the CIA to spy on Central American rebels before he gets involved in all sorts of shady business. Loosely inspired by the true story of pilot Barry Seal, who was involved in drug smuggling back in the 70's and 80's, American Made aims to show the way that governments can use people as pawns then discard them without a care in the world. Barry (Cruise) is landed in various life-threatening situations he can't really get out of without terrible repercussions by the CIA and druglords like Pablo Escobar. He is first hired to fly over enemy bases and take photographs with his plane but, soon enough, he becomes a courier for General Noriega, smuggles drugs and weapons and is being chased by the DEA once the U.S. publicly vows to beat the war on drugs. You definitely feel for th

Robert Downey Jr. stars in Less Than Zero , a 1987 film based on Bret Easton Ellis' novel. It also stars Jami Gertz, Andrew McCarthy and James Spader. The film follows three friends as their lives evolve (or devolve) after college: Clay (McCarthy) and Blair's (Gertz) relationship ends when the latter has an affair with Julian (Downey Jr.) and, some time later, a now successful Clay returns to Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his family and reconnect with old friends, including old flame Blair. Unfortunately, Julian's drug problem quickly becomes a liability for everyone. Robert Downey Jr. gives a reliably strong performance as the ebullient yet wounded Julian and James Spader is, of course, entirely convincing as the main antagonist. The film itself works best when it focuses on the sleazier side of L.A. and how the pressures of fitting in and making it big in the city can turn people into mindless cocaine-fuelled zombies, probably on a downward spiral to self-destr