The Infiltrator

So I am of the mindset that everything Bryan Cranston does is gold. I don't know how he does it but ever since Breaking Bad opened up a lot of serious opportunities for him as an actor, he's taken that opportunity and run far with it.

I didn't see a lot of trailers for The Infiltrator, but when I heard Bryan Cranston, I assumed it was at the very least going to be pretty entertaining, but I wondered if this was just an opportunity for Cranston to get involved with an action movie like actors of his age like to do from time to time like Liam Neeson in Taken, Pierce Brosnan in November Man, etc. While I don't hate that idea, some might consider a route like that to be selling out and it seemed like The Infiltrator could possibly be an entertaining movie but nothing special.

How foolish was I to ever doubt the talent and choices of Bryan Cranston.

The Infiltrator follows the true story of Robert Mazur, a US Customs agent who has had a long career going undercover to bust drug dealers and is coming towards a time in his career where he's thinking about retiring with his wife (Juliet Aubrey) and two kids.

However, he gets wind of a new opportunity to go undercover with the Colombian Cartel and instead of following the drugs to the criminals, he has the idea to follow the money to the criminals.

He creates the cover of Bob Musella, a corrupt businessman, in order to infiltrate the money laundering operations of Pablo Escobar and his Colombian Cartel and he finds himself in the midst of an intense and complex undercover mission to take down one of the largest criminal enterprises in the 80s.

The Infiltrator is following a slight trend that I'm seeing where it's a historical crime story set int he 80s following the police work to bring down the Colombian Cartel. You're seeing it more in shows like Narcos and other mediums and it's a niche of crime films that I am actually starting to really dig. You don't really realize it these days, but the 80s were almost 40 years ago and they're getting the same treatment I think the 60s got with movies like Catch Me If You Can, Forrest Gump, and JFK. I don't know if more things are getting unclassified or maybe when you reach a forty year mark things become historically interesting but it's also a sign I'm getting really old.

But The Infiltrator, like I said, is actually a deceptively intense movie. I mean some of the movie is stuff that you've seen before and stuff that you come to expect when watching a movie about a guy going undercover, however, The Infiltrator is written and Bryan Cranston performs in such a way that it feels new and it is incredibly intense.

This is also very surprising because Bob isn't going undercover with the drug dealers or the people who go and kill people, he's going undercover with the highest rungs of the Colombian criminal enterprise.

A big part of the movie is him schmoozing with Benjamin Bratt's character who is one of Pablo Escobar's inner circle. Still a dangerous guy and Bratt plays him in a way that you feel that intensity still, but honestly a lot of the movie is Bob and the female customs agent playing his wife (played by Diane Kruger) just getting to know and making friends with Bratt's character and his character's wife. And I know you're thinking that sounds incredibly boring, however, it manages to keep the intensity up, especially when you overlay it with reminders of what could happen to Bob if he or his partner say one wrong word.

John Leguizamo is in this movie and he plays a fellow Customs agent by the name of Emir. Emir sets up a cover that is a more traditional one. He goes undercover with the guys selling the drugs and doing a lot of the day to day operations, kind of what you would expect and undercover mission to go down as.

I've seen Leguizamo in a lot of films. Some of them he's been good, some of them he hasn't been so good. But I'm pretty sure this is the performance of his that I love the most because he represents a side of the job that Bob is teetering on. Emir loves his job and the danger that comes with it. He almost gets off on it and he both serves as a warning to Bob and how he could get sucked up in this job, as well as a safeguard. There are moments where even Emir has to stand back and say that Bob is cutting it close and risking things with this job and it's a really interesting relationship these two have.

And then there's Diane Kruger.

 So believe it or not, I actually like Diane Kruger. She was very good in movies like National Treasure and Inglorious Basterds. I think in a role where she is playing someone where they can explain why she has that German accent, I think she does a very good job.

However, I've noticed in movies where she is playing an America, she can't help but sneak that accent out and it's kind of noticeable while she's playing American customs agent, Kathy Ertz.

Which is a shame because she actually does a good job in this film. I think that her character was kind of thrown into the movie very quickly with very little introduction, especially with how important her character becomes to Bob. She and Bob develop a very close relationship and it's because they are pulling the cover as though they are married. There is an element that makes it a little bit weird, especially since Bryan Cranston is about 21 years older than Kruger, however, I think that these two work together very, very well and especially in the moments where they delve into Bob's relationship with his wife, Diane Kruger has an opportunity to really shine.

And speaking of Cranston's age. I don't want to knock the guy for being 61. I think as long as he's able to perform as great as he does all the time, it doesn't matter what his age is. However, something that I picked up on in the beginning was I think Bob Mazur was supposed to be in his forties during the events of this film. You can add all the black dye to Bryan Cranston's hair all you want, he still looks like he's in his fifties and even maybe his sixties at times.

Is this a big deal for the film? Not really. Bryan Crantson has proven time and time again that he is one of the best actors out there today and he gives such a dynamite performance that I really forgot how old he is once the story started rolling.

I think there's a possibility that this could be one of the last opportunities for Cranston to play a character like this because of his age so it's a good thing that it happened. But even that I'm skeptical of due to how great of an actor he is.

What are my problems with the movie? Not a lot honestly, I think that this was one of the hidden gems of 2016 that really went under the radar for a lot of people.

Maybe one of the criticisms I could have is that it does pull a lot of conventional undercover cliches that remind me to always take the words "Based on a True Story" with a grain of salt. But at the same

time I think they also manage to pull out some interesting relationships and twists and turns with that undercover story that make it really interesting.

I really do think that it's a hidden gem of 2016 and something that people should check out. If you're a fan of the show Narcos, you will definitely like The Infiltrator, but even if you're not, you get a bunch of really great performances from a wide range of actors like Cranston, Leguizamo, Bratt, Kruger, and a lot of other really great actors throughout.

Something I didn't mention is the emotional drama of this film. I don't want to give away the ending but like I said earlier, a lot of the movie is Bob and Kathy getting to know Benjamin Bratt's character, Roberto Alcaino and his wife and that does have some emotional strings to it. Nothing you're going to cry over, but it is interesting and does make for a good thriller drama combination all around.

Overall, I really recommend The Infiltrator. I think it was marketed as an action film from what I can gather from the trailer, but it actually is a really intense thriller about the US's investigation and take down of the Colombian Cartel in the 80s.

But what did you think of The Infiltrator? Did you like it? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.