BREAKING Bad star Bryan Cranston takes on another 'double identity' role in The Infiltrator, a gripping based-on-a-true-story yarn about an undercover US Customs Agent who posed as a big time money launderer in order to take down Pablo Escobar as America's 'war on drugs' kicked into top gear in the mid-1980s.
Robert Mazur (Cranston) a Florida customs cop who convinces drug runners and crooked international bankers that he's actually Bob Musella, a slick money mover with mob connections.
Mazur, a former accountant, is a mild-mannered family man who dotes on his young daughter and is fiercely loyal to his wife, Evelyn (Juliet Aubrey).
She's less than keen on the company her hubby is forced to keep while assuming various seedy identities and wearing wires in order to bust low-level dealers.
When Mazur decides that Customs need to be going after drug money rather than drug pushers in order to stem the relentless tide of cocaine sweeping across the US every day from South and Central America via Florida, he's paired up with a hot-headed partner, Emil Abreu (John Leguizamo) who has the right connections to get the fictional Musella into business with Escobar's representatives.
In order to keep his marriage vows intact while cajoling his would be clients at various Tampa Bay strip joints (and secretly recording their interactions on his nifty James Bond-style briefcase), Mazur is also forced to team up with a fake wife-to-be, wet behind the ears customs agent Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger).
Soon, the pair are living a lavish lifestyle while becoming firm friends with some of Escobar's US-based associates such as Roberto Alcaino (Benjamin Bratt) and his wife Gloria (Elena Anaya).
In time honoured undercover cop movie tradition, Mazur and Ertz develop mixed feelings about the fact that they will soon be sending their new besties to the slammer.
However, they are less vexxed about taking down the corrupt Bank of Credit and Commerce International, who were only too happy to help Mazur move drug money in and out of the US on behalf of Escobar even after he's point blank told them that he represents cocaine pedallers.
While The Infiltrator is beset with movie cliches, from Mazur's long-suffering missus actually delivering the line "promise me this is the last time" and his sparky 'mismatched partners' jousting with Emil (entertainingly played by Leguizamo in a red-eyed manner that suggests his copper may be dipping into evidence) to the 'will-they-won't-they' way his increasingly intense relationship with pretend fiance Ertz is framed, there are a few genuine shocks along the way as the film sucks you in to the point where you'll be on the edge of the seat every time Mazur's cover is about to be blown.
Cranston sells his cool under pressure cop well, convincing as a decent guy pushed into doing terrible things while maintaining his moral compass and allowing himself to enjoy flying first class, driving expensive cars and sporting the kind of shiny designer suits that let everyone know you're a 'family' man.
Supporting cast are all excellent and director Brad Furman brings his mother's Ellen Brown Furman's script (from the book by Robert Mazur) to the screen with panache.
A fun, unexpectedly gripping watch.
THE INFILTRATOR (15, 127 mins) Thriller/Drama. Bryan Cranston, Diane Kruger, Benjamin Bratt, Olympia Dukakis, Amy Ryan, John Leguizamo, Daniel Mays, Joseph Gilgun, Jason Isaacs, Elena Anaya. Director: Brad Furman
RATING: 3 STARS
