American Made

Exactly three years ago,

I promised you a president

who feels your pain and who shares your dreams.

I wanna talk to you about a fundamental threat to American democracy.

For the first time in the history of our country,

a majority of our people believe

that the next five years

will be worse than the past five years.

Shit.

Howdy, folks.

Apologize for the delay.

We're number 11 for takeoff.

We'll try to make it up in the air.

Just wake me up over Texas.

Apologies from the flight deck.

Just a little bit of turbulence.

Thank you all for flying TWA tonight.

Welcome to Baton Rouge.

The people's choice...

and for you history buffs, is in Louisiana...

Hey, Luce.

Um, back here.

Thank you for flying TWA.

Welcome to Vancouver.

Welcome to Bakersfield.

Welcome to Denver.

I hope they put us up at the Holiday Inn tonight.

Those little cocktail gals are on fire.

Soon as they see a man in uniform, panties come off.

About that landing in Detroit.

Oh, man. It was gusty that day.

One in Kentucky.

Thanks, Bobby.

Hey. Chivas on the rocks.

Barry.

What was that?

Barry Seal.

That's right.

You have a drop off and pick up service here every other Thursday.

Cuban exiles.

They pay commercial pilots to smuggle homegrown contraband

through Canadian hubs. Vancouver, Montreal.

Right?

I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about.

No? No.

You're smuggling cigars.

You have an interesting file, Barry.

"File"?

Starts off with a bang.

Top of your class in the Civil Air Patrol.

Youngest pilot in TWA history.

You were going places.

What is going on here?

Revolution's in the air, Barry.

Central America, right now.

We're building nations down there, Barry.

We're building nations.

It's America at its fucking finest.

And we could use someone like you.

Goddamn.

You're CIA.

Shh.

Holy shit.

Hot damn! Look at her.

Well, they, uh, they tell me she's pretty fast.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's the fastest twin-engine on the planet. Mmm.

I mean, shit!

She looks like she's going 300 miles an hour just sitting there.

CIA owns this?

No. No.

Uh, Independent Aviation Consultants.

IAC.

Yeah.

Well, what is that? What do they call them?

One of them front groups? Is that...

No, no, no. It's as real as IBM. Uh-huh.

You'd run the company, but after hours, you work for us.

Yeah.

Takes pictures? Mmm.

We say it "collects intelligence."

Uh-huh.

Where? Russia?

Uh...

South of the border, north of the equator.

Let's just say, uh, "enemies of democracy".

Look, the real work is covert. You understand? So...

"Covert".

So, uh, anyone finds out about it,

uh, family, friends, even Lucy. It's Lucy, right?

Yeah, that's right.

That'd be a problem.

What?

All this is legal?

If you're doing it for the good guys, yeah.

Just don't get caught.

You wanna take her for a spin?

Fuck it! Take her for a fucking spin!

I want you to take her for a spin.

It's all for me. Mmm-hmm.

It's new business. It's gonna be my business.

Okay.

Logistical support for airports. That's right.

Okay. And you're calling it IAC?

What do you know about business?

You are a TWA airline pilot.

That's how you support this family.

This is gonna be good for us, all right?

What about benefits?

Our healthcare?

We have great healthcare with TWA.

That's...

You know, I'm sure that's not gonna be a problem.

And what the hell does IAC mean, anyway?

Independent Aviation Consultants.

Well, that sounds fuckin' made up, Barry.

It does?

Flight controls free and correct.

Warning and enunciator lights.

Check on that.

Anti-skid lights. That's off.

Landing gear. Handle's down. Three green.

Speed brake lever.

Stowed.

Thrust levers. Cut off.

Engine start levers. Cut off.

Slap trim cut-off switches. Normal.

Fire warning system?

Check.

Radius transponder radar?

Barry? Radius transponder radar?

Yeah. Check, check.

Rudder, aileron trim?

Zero, zero.

Windows?

Closed.

Flight attendant briefing?

Yeah.

Barry?

You're gonna be all right, Jimmy.

Where are you... Where are you going?

Barry! Barry, where are you going?

Shit! I know, I know.

That was bold.

That was bold.

I do tend to leap before I look.

Maybe, uh...

Maybe I should have asked a few more questions.

Anyway, it was back in '78 and, uh...

It was September? October.

Anyway, it, uh...

That was the day I joined the CIA.

Now, in those days, the Cold War was in full swing.

The Soviets were backing communist insurgents

all over Central America.

And the CIA wanted snaps of them insurgents.

Now, these pictures are sensational.

Who's responsible?

They're mine.

Hey, Monty?

Yeah.

Go fuck yourself.

Whoa!

Oh, shit!

Come on, now. Come on, now.

Fuck!

Whoo!

The people's choice.

So, uh... So then I show him this one.

And he goes, "God damn it, Schafer, I didn't ask for mug shots."

I mean, they say they're the best

reconnaissance photos they have ever seen.

Does this mean I get a raise?

You're doing great.

Hey, you got a family, Schafer?

Big push!

Motherfucker!

Wife? Kids?

See, I, uh...

I didn't tell Lucy I ain't working for TWA no more.

You're serving your country.

I am gonna need some more money at some point.

You'll figure it out.

Oh. Uh...

We, uh...

We're sending you to Panama tomorrow.

The CIA was so happy with my work,

they gave me another job.

Bagman.

See, there was this colonel down in Panama

named Noriega.

And he was selling the agency's Intel on all the commies down there.

For your friends.

My job was just to drop off and pick up.

Just drop off

and pick up.

Right here in Baton Rouge.

You're listening to the best Louisiana music.

Hey, Luce, pancakes are up.

Thanks, baby.