"The true story of one man against the biggest drug cartel in history."

Filmology Rating: 2.3 out of 4

In 1986, federal agent Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston) goes undercover in an attempt to infiltrate the trafficking network of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. While on the case, he works with fellow agents Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger) and Emir Abreu (John Leguizamo), all of whom have very slick and solid identities to get them into this world of drug trafficking. The soon gain the confidence of Escobar's higher ups and now must navigate a vicious criminal underworld where one wrong could be fatal.

Hey fun fact to start off with, The Infiltrator was written by a mother son duo! Always kind of neat to see family works and to see how well they pull it off together. While I would say that they pulled off a good movie, there were some things that could have been better. I’ll start with the flaws because are only a few. I thought that the directing (the son) could have been a little bit better. Some of the scenes that were supposed to be really intense fell flat. I really didn’t feel the tension in a lot of scenes. I think this has to do with the camera work and the cinematography. I think that at times when things were supposed to be the most tense, they were off focusing on some other area when they should’ve been doing a close up to really capture the emotion and the intensity from the actors. This is my biggest flaw. While this movie is full of close ups, they weren’t fully used correctly when they really needed to be.

Now on to the good stuff! The strength of this movie is its acting. Bryan Cranston is God’s gift to the acting world (at least one of them). He was fantastic in this movie which is to be expected from this glorious man. He also had a very strong cast behind him with Diane Kruger, John Leguizamo, and Benjamin Bratt who played one of Escobar’s higher ups. Each one of these characters had some depth to them and displayed real emotion that could be felt. While I personally don’t have any experience in the drug trafficking network, (not sure about the rest of you) these talented actors really put you in the situation. When you have great actors AND also great writing (Good job mom! Also this was her first time as a writer for the big screen) then you have the combo that really puts you in their shoes. So for me, I really was intrigued with the story.

Adding on to the characters and the emotion, this movie focuses a lot on when Cranston’s character Robert Mazur gains the trust of Bratt’s character Robert Alcaino. Mazur is just doing his job when it comes to breaking into the drug trafficking world. Along the way he had to become “friends” with some people. But what if these “friends” became actual friends and people that he cared about? This movie did an excellent job of showing both sides of this story. While someone might be involved with the drug market, it doesn’t mean that they are necessarily an evil person. These are also real people with real families. Real friendships can be made and when it comes time to actually finish the job, the end result can be very emotional.

A very interesting story that’s strongest point is its fine acting. The Infiltrator is a movie that has been squashed by Ghostbusters and Secret Life of Pets. If you want to see great acting and an interesting story, then give this one a go.

Rating: See It 

-Nick