Bryan Cranston Rejoins The Drug War; This Time as an Undercover Cop in 1980's Miami

The Infiltrator: Rated “R“ (2 hours, 7 minutes)

Starring: Bryan Cranston, Diane Kruger, John Leguizamo, Benjamin Bratt, Yul Vazquez

Directed by: Brad Furman

Back in the 1980s, drugs were flowing into this country like water. The DEA was hard-pressed to stem the tide of illegal drugs which were mostly coming in through Miami. One of those real-life agents working to suppress the deluge of those drugs into Miami was U.S. Customs Service special agent Robert Mazur (Cranston). Mazur is an undercover agent, something that makes his wife a little bit concerned for his safety especially as this is an admittedly dangerous line of work. The film starts out after a drug bust where Mazur and his partner, decide to up the ante and instead of chasing the crooks who are dealing the drugs, to follow the money and go up the chain to grab the people who are actually bringing them into the country as well as the bankers who are laundering the cash.

Creating the alias “Bob Musella” and with the help of another undercover DEA officer, Emir Abreu (Leguizamo), transforms himself into becoming a pivotal player for drug lords cleaning their dirty cash. Soon, he manages to infiltrate the world’s largest cartel and discovers the money-laundering organization of Columbian drug lord, Pablo Escobar by cozying up to one of Escobar’s top lieutenant Roberto Alcaino (Bratt). Using this knowledge, he manages to insert himself into the money chain and eventually take down the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, which had secretly taken illegal ownership of First American Bank shares in Washington, D.C. This film is based on the real exploits of Mazur who helped bring about the largest drug bust in U.S. History

The film very not only adroitly captures the feel (music, style, and essence) of that era, but it also puts you right in the heart of the operation, and you really feel the tension and stress and uncertainty of the undercover deal, as the deal moves along and Mazur moves closer and closer to his target. Granted, we know it is a true story, but we don’t know the specifics of how the op plays out so nothing is guaranteed for us viewers as Mazur goes deep undercover the danger becomes more and more palatable.

What makes this film work all the more better is that Cranston’s most famous role is that of AMC’s easy-going Walter White, the high school chemistry teacher who learns that he has terminal cancer and then starts cooking meth to pay his bills. Perhaps one can (metaphorically) think of this very powerful role as his way of him seeking atonement for having promoted such a dangerous and drug-fueled lifestyle for five seasons.