What makes it different from others?

Very well executed

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

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.

This film details the true story of drug trafficking and laundering illegal money. Agent Robert Mazur invented a persona with a rich and lavish lifestyle in order to infiltrate Pablo Escobar's trafficking scene which was becoming apparent in 1986. Going deeper and deeper undercover in order to build a case that leads to indictments of more than 100 drug lords. Fascinating, ever so fascinating. What was really profound was the slow build up of trust and admiration between Mazur's cover up character and the drug lords of Colombia. The film portrayed them as normal people, genuine human beings with families. Sure what they were doing was completely illegal and something you shouldn't attempt at home...that something being an illegal drug trafficking scheme, but seeing that trust break at the end was actually melancholic. Captivating dual performances from both Cranston and Leguizamo, I thought they suited their roles incredibly well. Casting the beauty that is Diane Kruger is always great and I thought Benjamin Bratt's performance was noteworthy. The directing style was, on the whole, good. Nothing outstanding but towards the end wedding scene there were some nice long shots which I admired. There are a lot of characters in this story consisting of agents, family members, drug lords and corrupt bankers. It takes quite some time to establish them and get the story flowing, in fact I found the first half to be rather underwhelming. Nothing really engaged me. It's quite a meaty runtime (127 minutes) and honestly this could've been cut substantially. The second half was much better which included more tension and character investment. I also found that scenes just seemed to have been cut, one point we're in a hotel then all of sudden we're in France. Seemed to have been strung together to try and create flow but if anything it just hindered the narrative. However, some great performances and some interesting characters make for a good true story albeit unmemorable.

A U.S. Customs official uncovers a money laundering scheme involving Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. A movie about Bryan Cranston where he plays an undercover cop and involves around Cartels and Drugs? Well there you have it this film is terrific i expected it to be good but not that damn good. The acting is great especially from Cranston, Benjamin Bratt continues to showcase his acting talent that he very much showed in Snitch, Diane Kruger was terrific and she was very very smart playing this undercover agent and finally John Leguizamo in a decent and good role once again. The suspense reaches the roof, the story is superb and everyone delivers in a lot of great ways and even tho the film hardly has any actual action it's still one hell of a great movie plus the End Credits song had such a great 80's beat to it. The Infiltrator is easily one of the best films about Drugs since Blow (2001)

Once Breaking Bad was over, Bryan Cranston became a somewhat unlikely Hollywood leading man scoring an instant Best Actor nomination for the biopic drama Trumbo.He's returning to his secretive crime sweet-spot with The Infiltrator but instead of playing the crook, he takes on the role as an undercover cop looking to break into a massive drug cartel that stretches all the way to Pablo Escobar and take it down from the inside.There's no denying that the 1980s-set story of Bob Mazur is a riveting one and, given its basis in truth, one that should be told. It should end up as some sort of Scarface/Donnie Brasco hybrid but when all is said and done, The Infiltrator lacks the power of either.When Mazur gets close to Escobar's top lieutenant Roberto Alcaino (an excellent Benjamin Bratt), the emotions should've been running high and the scene set for a Greek tragedy but director Brad Furman's story is too on the level to resonate deeply.Put simply, The Infiltrator lacks emotion. It tells the story of an undercover agent who goes undercover and does his job quite well. It sidesteps true conflict and thus fails to stay memorable outside of the odd nicely photographed scene. Cranston gives it his all, further establishing his reputation as a dependable leading man. It's a shame that the rest of the film fails to match his ambition.