I’m quite sure this film was written backwards. I’d bet anything that Brad Furman read an outrageous headline and knew immediately that was his denouement. The rest was research and working back to the start, the Memento approach to screenplays.
It would be easy to say the 80s were a great time for underworld druglords; truth is there has rarely not been a great time for underworld druglords. The war on drugs has been won … by drugs. And drugs were winning even before there was a war. Yet, for whatever anti-drug policies have not achieved (nor ever will achieve) the intended result, I cannot fault the desire behind them, nor the agents who fight the battles to keep drugs away from children.
U.S. Customs agent Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston) needs to retire. He’s played the game too long and has developed some sort of chest injury – old bullet wound? Collapsed lung? Achy Breaky Heart? I don’t think The Infiltrator ever says. What is clear is that he needs to retire, so naturally, he’s playing for one more big score to take down the Columbian drug cartel. Clichés don’t write themselves.
It is the pre-cell phone 1980s and Bob’s big coup is a tape recording briefcase. You’d think dudes would get suspicious, one man being that attached to his attaché, but, hey, what else would you bring to Miami beach? The bad guys have been winning for a while and Bob has a new attack plan. The bright idea here is that from now on, he’s going to follow the money, not the drugs. The not-so-bright idea is that his underworld tie is John Leguizamo. Wow. That must suck, huh? I mean one wrong move from anybody in your badge circle and they’re feeding you part-by-part to either alligators or crocodiles, depending on what they got. (Would you rather be eaten by a gator or a croc?) And your key to safety is held by John Leguizamo. Look, I wouldn’t trust John Leguizamo to hold my place in line at the supermarket, much less keep my cover amidst seedy underworld espionage.
There’s a nifty scene of the two literally selecting names among tombstones, essentially thieving from the dead. That can’t possibly be a good strategy, can it? Eventually, you are going to run into a relative, no?
The Infiltrator played a great deal like Donnie Brasco, and we’ve seen this material before — done better, done worse. Yeah, yeah, the almost caught moment. Yeah, yeah, the scene where the kingpin pops a guy right next to you just to slant the playing field. Seen it. Oooh, you know what was missing? The scene where the undercover agent has to do drugs just to prove he’s 
one of the guys. The gimmick here is that the happily married Mazur gets caught in a lie to avoid stripper sex and has to invent a fiancée. Two good things come it – the introduction of agent Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger) and the moment where Mazur has to abuse a waiter and his actual wife in public so not to blow his cover. I’m sure that’s why Cranston, still hot in the wake of “Breaking Bad”, took this role.
There didn’t seem spectacular reason why Robert Mazur kept with U.S. Customs – not as presented at least. That and a surprise-less script probably would have led to negative synopsis if not for Cranston. He’s too old to play an action hero, but if keeps finding these tweener thriller roles written for George Clooney, he will continue to thrive as an actor.
♪The sting was tied up in a hall uh-huh-huh
When Mazur found he’s set up for a fa-hall
He made preparation
To stop drug migration
Which undoubtedly led to infiltration!
Hey! I could take this dead guy’s name.
Huh! I wonder what my wife thinks about this.
Sucks! Leguizamo
Infiltration
For excitement
Show emotion
You’re generally set apart from the target
While you try to get in close
Gotta make sure your cover isn’t blown♫
Rated R, 127 Minutes
D: Brad Furman
W: Ellen Sue Brown
Genre: Deconstructing an empire
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: DEA
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Druglords
♪ Parody inspired by “Interjections”
