I don't think there is any dispute when one says that Bryan Cranston's career took off into the A-lists after the stupendous success of Breaking Bad. He has been working in some very big movies in roles tailored for him. To a man in his position, it is easy to get swayed into accepting big money meaningless roles that would have come thick and fast post his stardom. Bryan Cranston didn't budge. Instead he used this same stardom and new found influence to get him into doing some very interesting roles and gave very passionate performances to further his legacy in acting.
Pablo Escobar's drug empire might not be a very sophisticated one. It was more or less operated by may be intelligent but rather uneducated people. They followed procedures and people what the best money or intimidation could buy. In such duress, you don't get innovation - you only get workarounds. There were numerous attempts by dedicated DEA and Customs teams to poke at this clunky model and dismantle the operations, but with the reach and the money generating prowess of its business, ten more such models would crop up just as one goes down. 'The Infiltrator' is based on a real life account of one such operation, a rather successful one.
Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston) is a U.S. Customs Officer and is a veteran in undercover operations. The mission starts off to collect evidence against some higher members of Escobar's echelon along with his trusted associate Emir (John Leguizamo). Soon the dynamics change and the mission gets bigger with members of the cartel getting very interested with Mazur's proposal. The need to find a bank which could be talked into doing the laundering work for them arises which is when the BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International) steps in. With the evidence mounting up, his life constantly in danger, personal life in shambles, he has to find a way to bring all players under a single roof for indictments.
Being made from a real life account of Robert Mazur, one would imagine the story to be opinionistic and highly perspective. However the makers had made sure they take an objective route in telling their story but does indulge in some personal views of Mazur. The idea of choosing BCCI (the biggest product of Pakistan on international stage) amongst many other options isn't well shown. The direction is upbeat especially with John Leguizamo's histrionics and members of Medellin cartel's lifestyle. It has Bryan Cranston playing the lead and another seasoned Hollywood actress Diane Kruger playing a crucial role, with everything going for it - there seems to be something missing throughout the movie making it incomplete.
The attention to detail for the period is done well, the background score always is high spirited and apt, the color theme and cinematography adds into the period feel. It has its moments of emotional depth where the characters of Mazur and Kathy (Diane Kruger) has to walk a thin line between the new friendships they are making and the knowledge of the fact that they are also collecting evidence to eventually bust them. Considering the story is backed by a real life account which already has a huge conspiracy undertone, intriguing twists and involves a popular figure like Escobar looming over it - I felt the resulting movie could have been a little more engaging than it turned out to be.
May not be your best true story backed crime drama, a great story and good acting makes it watchable.
Pablo Escobar's drug empire might not be a very sophisticated one. It was more or less operated by may be intelligent but rather uneducated people. They followed procedures and people what the best money or intimidation could buy. In such duress, you don't get innovation - you only get workarounds. There were numerous attempts by dedicated DEA and Customs teams to poke at this clunky model and dismantle the operations, but with the reach and the money generating prowess of its business, ten more such models would crop up just as one goes down. 'The Infiltrator' is based on a real life account of one such operation, a rather successful one.
Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston) is a U.S. Customs Officer and is a veteran in undercover operations. The mission starts off to collect evidence against some higher members of Escobar's echelon along with his trusted associate Emir (John Leguizamo). Soon the dynamics change and the mission gets bigger with members of the cartel getting very interested with Mazur's proposal. The need to find a bank which could be talked into doing the laundering work for them arises which is when the BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International) steps in. With the evidence mounting up, his life constantly in danger, personal life in shambles, he has to find a way to bring all players under a single roof for indictments.
Being made from a real life account of Robert Mazur, one would imagine the story to be opinionistic and highly perspective. However the makers had made sure they take an objective route in telling their story but does indulge in some personal views of Mazur. The idea of choosing BCCI (the biggest product of Pakistan on international stage) amongst many other options isn't well shown. The direction is upbeat especially with John Leguizamo's histrionics and members of Medellin cartel's lifestyle. It has Bryan Cranston playing the lead and another seasoned Hollywood actress Diane Kruger playing a crucial role, with everything going for it - there seems to be something missing throughout the movie making it incomplete.
The attention to detail for the period is done well, the background score always is high spirited and apt, the color theme and cinematography adds into the period feel. It has its moments of emotional depth where the characters of Mazur and Kathy (Diane Kruger) has to walk a thin line between the new friendships they are making and the knowledge of the fact that they are also collecting evidence to eventually bust them. Considering the story is backed by a real life account which already has a huge conspiracy undertone, intriguing twists and involves a popular figure like Escobar looming over it - I felt the resulting movie could have been a little more engaging than it turned out to be.
May not be your best true story backed crime drama, a great story and good acting makes it watchable.