We’ve seen movies about drug dealers, and the men and women who bust up drug empires; we’ve seen films about people who go undercover and ones about law enforcement types who are lured to the dark by money and power. Pulling a little bit from all of these scenarios is the true-life story of Robert Mazur (on whose book this movie is based), THE INFILTRATOR is the tale of the U.S. Customs agent (played to perfection by Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad,” TRUMBO) who becomes a major money launderer for the Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, all while trying to keep his real family life from falling apart under the unimaginable pressure of working undercover.
Working from a nicely layered and arranged screenplay by Ellen Brown Furman, director Brad Furman (RUNNER RUNNER, THE LINCOLN LAWYER) moves through Mazur’s life as a devoted husband and father living in Tampa, as well as his false identity as businessman Bob Musella, a person whose company is uniquely qualified to move large amounts of cash through its machinations and into hidden accounts around the world. It’s not that Musella simply sets up the scheme; he actually moves money for Escobar with the help of his agency to establish that he’s the real deal.
The inherent drama of THE INFILTRATOR isn’t the usual weapons and threat of death (although there’s a bit of that, if something every goes wrong). Instead, the film finds the urgency in watching Musella move up the ranks and gain the trust of various Escobar underlings, including key lieutenant Roberto Alcaino (Benjamin Bratt). With the help of his regular partner Emir Abreu (John Leguizamo, as good as he’s been since CARLITO’S WAY), Mazur/Musella practically makes the bad guys come to him, rather than appearing too eager for their business.
But the screenplay’s greatest gift is making it clear that Mazur and his team (including his superior officer, played by Amy Ryan) are smart enough to know that each new person Musella has to convince to use him to launder money needs to be approached using a different technique. Some need to be shown the conservative businessman, some need see him as something of a gangster, while others require a more personal touch. In the case of the all-important Alcaino, Mazur enlists the help of fellow Customs agent Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger) to play his girlfriend in order to become friendly with Alcaino’s wife, Gloria (Elena Anaya of THE SKIN I LIVE IN). The two couples form a true friendship, and it’s clear there’s a sense of regret when Mazur realizes that the bond must be broken as the big bust gets closer.
There are a great many moments in THE INFILTRATOR that will feel annoyingly familiar to anyone who has watched a solid police procedural series or film, but the talented cast and Furman’s assured directing make Mazur’s mid-1980s story seem fresh and unique more often than not. Case in point, there’s a sequence in which Mazur is taking his real wife, Evelyn (Juliet Aubrey), out for their anniversary. Since he lives and works in the Tampa area (which in retrospect, seems really unwise), an associate from his undercover world spots him and says hello, forcing Mazur to switch into Musella mode and pretend his wife is his secretary and that they’re out celebrating her birthday. When the “Happy Anniversary” cake shows up, Musella assaults the waiter, blaming him for the “mistake.” Evelyn clearly understands what’s going on, but is beyond appalled by her husband’s behavior. It’s as tense and remarkable a scene as any in the film, and it’s a testament to Cranston’s abilities to switch gears with no notice to protect everyone involved, including himself.
The Infiltrator has a few great moments like that, separated by a great deal of interesting material that never quite takes off or engages us fully. The film keeps us at a distance somewhat, and as strange as it may sound, I wanted to be pulled into this world and fully embrace the long con. Ironically, Cranston and Kruger make a far more interesting and warm couple than Mazur and his wife, and while the screenplay flirts with the idea of this faux couple coming together romantically, thankfully we are spared that unnecessary indignity.
The film’s soundtrack is also worth mentioning, a mix of classic rock and dance music (mostly of the Latino variety), but the inclusion of Curtis Mayfield’s “Pusherman” and “Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” might be a little too on the nose for grown folks.
While THE INFILTRATOR uses the undercover sub-genre of cop movies as its template, it finds ways to expand beyond that framework and give us aspects to a story like this we may never have considered. Mazur was smart enough to see that the takedown of a large number of Escobar’s people could also deal a major blow to the banks knowingly taking drug money. He aimed for bigger targets than those before him, and it paid off. More importantly, in a sea of summer spectacle, THE INFILTRATOR feels like it’s aimed squarely at adults, and sometimes, that hits the spot even if the film is a bit derivative. Come for the often harrowing story; stay for the performances that frequently rise above the material.
