The Infiltrator fails to turn an interesting story into a worthwhile film. Bryan Cranston stars as a Florida-based U.S. Customs agent who goes undercover to investigate and expose the money-laundering system of Pablo Escobar and the Medellín Cartel. Cranston is fine from moment to moment, focused and steadfast with his mustache and aviator shades, but he fails to reveal the psychology of his character beyond a vague sense of, "Being deep undercover too long can become confusing and strenuous." His familiar arc never blossoms into a particularly compelling one. He is not aided by the haphazard direction of Brad Furman, whose previous credits include The Lincoln Lawyer and Runner Runner. In a relatively novel familial collaboration, the film's screenplay is by the director's mother. They fail to bring cogency to a complicated web of allegiances, betrayals, and transactions; it is often hard to tell who is doing what and why, and this registers as amateur and unskillful rather than as deliberate opacity. Interesting peripheral characters such as a beleaguered prosecutor played by Jason Isaacs and an investigation-aiding furloughed convict played by Preacher's Joe Gilgun go significantly underdeveloped, dropping in and out of the film at random intervals. Absurd moments splash upon the screen (see: voodoo-sacrifice-style cartel assassination), but are never commented upon afterward. And Furman's style is often simply juvenile. He directs as if he just discovered color grading, washing scenes in midnight blues and vomit greens to no atmospheric or storytelling end, and his wide-eyed imitation of Martin Scorsese (winding Steadicam shots, aggressive use of FM staples as the Who's "Eminence Front" and Rush's "Tom Sawyer") unproductively calls attention to itself. The Infiltrator is also damned to a certain extent by the surplus of similar fare. It is hard to become excited by so mediocre a product in a world where Blow, The French Connection, Sicario, Traffic, and others are readily available.

C

It has good actors, decent story and some tense filled scenes but none of them really gel together into a whole. The main story lacks any kind of progress other than from here or any emotional tension due to family issues that the movie clearly tries to push hard. The cast does well but none of them stand-out and while I was impressed with the direction Brad Furman he isn't able to handle the scope of the whole thing.

C