You won't be disappointed!

Fantastic!

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

'The Infiltrator' feels more like quality made for television movie rather than high quality cinematic piece. The story is straight forward and the outcome is predictable, the film is void of any sort of style, and there isn't much thrills or tension. That doesn't mean the film was bad, on the contrary - it was quite good. But that's it - quite good. Considering the source material, and talented cast (who all were superb) 'The Infiltrator' could have been much more. Besides Bryan Cranston's amazing performance as undercover agent Robert Mazur, there isn't much else memorable.

Robert Mazer, a US customs official on the point of retirement, sees an opportunity for his undercover drugs operation to be given a revised initiative whereby they will pursue the laundering of drug money rather than the drugs themselves.Bryan Cranston stars as Mazer in this adaptation of Mazer's autobiographical book, which follows Mazer and a small group of fellow operatives into very dangerous territory as, under assumed identities as money launderers, they follow the trail of drug money back through the hierarchy of the Medellin cartel and its satellite organisations. The danger and the growing closeness with his fellow agent fictional fiancée threaten his marriage, a genuine affection grows with one of the drugs cartel and his wife, and an international bank is brought down.Bryan Cranston, as Mazer, is brilliant - why was this man not a star years ago? And the rest of the cast is solid, too, in a film which is essentially a suspense thriller - will they get found out before their infiltration exercise comes to fruition? The story told here is intricate: more intricate than it needs to be in a film which doesn't need the detail, much of which isn't greatly plot-relevant, in order to tell the story. You are left concentrating on intricacies which don't really matter: the real-life denseness, in which every detail mattered hugely, could have been simplified more than it has been, because the main plotline is actually relatively straightforward.And, because of this, and because it retells a real-life story, there are details thrown in which go nowhere. We expect the conventions of film to apply, so when a big thing is made of a gift of jewellery, we expect a major plot pay-off; instead we get a minor sidenote.This is quite a good movie and, I suspect, a pet project of Cranston (he and Mazer are co-credited as executive producers), but it didn't have, for me, the impact it felt as if it expected.

A Great Cast does some Fine Acting that Drives this Fractured Movie. It is Split into a Schizophrenic Story that Struggles to Balance the Two Competing Milieus.The Emphasis Switches, not so Seamlessly, from Corrupt Shiny Bankers to Psychopathic Drug Cartels. There is Evil being done with Paperwork and Wetwork and as the Film Unfolds these Things Blur, Disorient, and make the Viewing Experience Less than the Entertainment is should be.However, taking Each Element on its own, both sides of the Issue, ("The Sting"), are Engrossing Enough to Withstand the Ping-Ponging of the Story-Line. It's Bryan Cranston's Picture Portraying "Real Life" Undercover Agent Robert Mazzulo and Cranston's Angst Anchors the Movie as the Deceits and Deceptions Determine the Outcome of each Phase of the Case.It's a Good Looking Film with a Soundtrack that doesn't quite Nail the Songs of the Era but it's Not Too Distracting, because the rest of the Production Design is Snappy with its 1980's Template.The Banker/Gangster Expositions Collide now and then with Tonal Shifts and are Awkward, but Overall the Movie is Worth a Watch for some Good Acting and a Supply of Suspense.

Don't misunderstand me, it's a solidly acted, directed and produced dramatisation of the events of the time as predictable as it all was. As I said, it's been done before and done better. There's many tales of this type and this is not the worst but is far from the best. And I think that the combined acting chops of Brian Cranston, Diane Kruger, Juliet Aubrey and the irrepressible - John Leguizamo - are what brings this up past a 4-5/10. There were errors in the general styling of the characters, such as the colours and stylings of the nail polishes, the hair styles and even the shoes that Kruger's character wore at the faux wedding. Yeah, perhaps they're small quibbles. The soundtrack didn't save it and yet, I had high hopes when hearing a few riffs of 'Kiss Off' by 'The Violent Femmes' at the beginning. Time appropriate sure, although probably too alternative when trying to tie music to a scene. Remember, we're predominantly in Miami so the soundtrack should've reflected the cocaine fueled nightclub scenes, the general mid 80s vibe of Madonna, Wham!, Phil Collins, etc.,. Horrible yes, but appropriate, nevertheless. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if you're into Cranston, by all means, watch it. If you want a nothing movie to kill 120 minutes of your life, then sure, it's like an extended episode of any cop show but oddly, not Miami Vice. Actually, if you want something worth watching in a similar vein then try 'Donnie Brasco' for a "buddy was an undercover agent" story. In 'The Infiltrator', no one seems all that bothered by anything or anyone. Yeah, they say they are and all that but it's all a bit contrived. Predictable, but by the end, I was kind-of hoping that everyone died.