Call this one a redemption movie, for Bryan Cranston that is. He’s still the one who knocks but he does so with a warrant.
It’s no accident that Junior White, aka Walt Jr, aka Flynn (of Breaking Bad)’s favorite book was about the takedown of Pablo Escobar and his drug cartel, and the book was a gift from the now dead Uncle Hank, both Hank and the man who did the shakedown being his real heroes. This film is the antithesis of that for Cranston.
The shameful shakeout of Walter White needed to be reversed for Bryan to obtain some kind of equilibrium in the real world of screen acting. Tough to shake a character as strong as Walter. But Bryan has already done that in so fashionable a way.
In The Infiltrator, we see a very nice mirror of the real life events that took place surrounding the Escobar cartel, and the man that went undercover to get him. The film itself is great Hollywood stuff, but standard stuff. I was not overwhelmed by it, but certainly it was engaging, because we all like to see how things turn out between good guys and bad, even knowing full well the story from real history. Maybe sometimes we just want to see the replay, like in sports, or learn details that we didn’t know before.
This film gave us a perspective of the difference between small time and big time, which was the whole point in any case. The relationship between the Cranston character and John Leguizamo’s as undercover partners mirrored that difference, as Emir (John L’s character) and Robert Mazur (Cranston) split up their methods during the course of the larger investigation. Emir continued the chase after smaller time criminals and the dope itself to get to the real sources, while Mazur went after the money, indeed the better bet. There are several times during the story when Emir almost gets whacked, and in a much less glorious fashion.
But besides accentuating a particular method of detective work, the film itself was not over glamorized, or overly fast and jumpy, as some Fast and Furious fans might want it, or standard action fare. This was evenly paced, well thought out directing and editing. But for that reason it was also nothing spectacular, not “edgy”. So it was excellently done, just not showy, and for the same reason, also a bit on the boring side. There was tension, yes, but never unexpected or over the top enough to jar anyone.
The best scene for Cranston, in my mind, was the very first one, as the inept Italian bowler flirting with the waitress and bowling with a criminal. That was great. However, for the rest of the film, I don’t believe that it put Brian’s acting to the test. He just flows into this kind of role without becoming ruffled. At least he makes it look easy. Leguizamo is equally entertaining and realistic as the partner, and makes the bond between the two men very solid.
Good standard crime drama, solid performance, easy to follow, fun to watch. Just not a jump up and down exciting film. 6 or 7 out of 10.
- Agitatus
