Infiltrator, The

Synopsis: A U.S. Customs official (Bryan Cranston) goes undercover in an attempt to destroy the cartel of Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar.

Bryan Cranston, Oscar-nominated for his performance in last year's Trumbo, was a good choice to play Bob Mazur, a real-life Federal agent who infiltrated the Medellin Drug Cartel which in the mid’80s was importing an astonishing quantity of cocaine into America and fueling a drug war that made Miami into its murder capital.

Based on an autobiography by Mazur. a former accountant, much as it was the taxman who took down Al Capone, Brad Furman’s film charts how the drug cartels were undone more by targeting their mountains of dirty money rather than seizing actual drugs.  Although there is some obligatory seediness, by and large, The Infiltrator eschews the Miami Vice style of drug film flashiness and concentrates on the dogged work of Mazur, his side-kick, Emir (John Leguizamo), and Kathy (Diane Kruger), his pretend  fiancé as they work their way into the business and banking end of the drug trade.

Which is not say that the film is not exciting, but this is because of the worry we feel for Bob as he sets about enrapping people who would inflict a slow and horribly painful death not only on him but his entire family. To its credit The Infiltrator is a film whose story will absorb you rather than be padded out with meretricious gloss and vicarious thrills.

Cranston is on the money as the decent family man who is dedicated to his job while John Leguizamo, better known for his wise-ass characters, turns in a surprisingly solid performance.  Benjamin Bratt also makes a  strong showing as one of Escobar’s lieutenants, a charmer who manages to rationalize his activities as “business”, even achieving some sway with Bob and Kathy.

Strong as the story and performances are there are times when one feels unsure about the truth-to-fiction ratio. The traffic between Mazur’s suburban lifestyle and his undercover life seems too convenient (at one point he goes to a restaurant  with his wife and one of the mobsters walk in. What are the chances?) and the motivation for putting not only his own life but that of his family at risk feels wanting.  Also the film’s ending seems unwarrantedly melodramatic. Surely the DEA would have organized things better? And given the ruthlessness of the cartel it seems odd that we are told nothing about what happened to Mazur post-bust. Surely, one thinks, they would have come after him?

Still, this story is presumably substantially true and its realization is intelligently handled with plenty of well-crafted tension. It’s not great but it’s better than a lot of the current offerings in the crime category.

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