"Infiltrator" (2016)

There were an odd amount of gay dudes at the Laemmle where I saw this movie. Perhaps they thought it was something else.

You know why drug cartels will always fail? Greed. There was no reason for Pablo Escobar to go for the record breaking cocaine seizure only of a simple theory that money makes money. How about “enough is enough”?

So it stands to reason, with that all that money you really need to launder it. Enter Rober Mazur, a low grade set-up man with the DEA. His operations are nailig people at…bowling alleys. He was destined for more. So instead of retiring, he decides to get close to the man who’s getting all the junk in, circa 1985. But it isn’t easy. He has to finesse a lot of unsavory, scary people…but he also befriends one that gets nice face and mean even faster. This dynamic is oddly placed and seems like a longer movie, but…this is what we get.

Bryan Crantson plays Mazur. But he goes undercover as a banker named Robert Musella, a name he found in a graveyard. He lives the lifestyle of a gangster, though he is but an accountant. His plan is to get to the money and the money leads to the bad people. He is paired up with a street wise Latin guy played WONDERFULLY by John Leguizamo. In fact, I wish the movie were more about him. He gets in deep with street informants, and isn’t the slightest bit effected by taking them down. Is there a reason for either of these guys to do what they do? Seems they can’t explain it. Nor the movie. But, if you like strong performances…it’s a great watch.

Unfortunately this movie has too many confusing moments that service the plot. Diane Kruger is brought in as the fake undercover fiancée of Cranston. She’s charming and book learn but we never figure out what a sweet girl like her is doing in the mud with animals. Perhaps her love of excitement. I found myself explaining most of this movie away saying “This WAS 1985.” Which is convenient in the world they made, but irritating circa 2016.

There is a tag line about how the drug cartels were created by America to supplement a war against Russians. Money came from one hand and went out to the other. I’m not sure most Americans understand WHY Middle Easterners hate us…because we can’t commit. If we’d just stayed true to our word, a lot of terrorism wouldn’t have inflated the way it does now. Many people think it’s religion (as I have). In essence it is and it isn’t. We support poppy fields in Afghanistan to make money to fight Russia. When that was over, we decide that was now hurting us. Because…it wasn’t before? Only when it serviced the U.S. Government had they ever enacted the ability to create monsters. And we judge the pusher (supplier) NOT the addict (demander).

Frankly, this movie leaves you cold. Not knowing the good people from the bad gets you a queasy feel. Which is fine, just that it didn’t answer anything NOR take a point of view. A fine watch on television…the theater is harder to justify. To me, Mazur painted himself (which the movie is based on the book he wrote) as a family man crusader who sacrificed a lot to do good. IN reality, you feel as though we’re going after the wrong people (ahem..politicians)…so not much changes.