Al's Omniflick: The Infiltrator

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

The Infiltrator

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Brad Furman/Starring: Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, Diane Kruger, Juliet Aubrey, Amy Ryan, Olympia Dukakis and Benjamin Bratt

Brad Furman's The Infiltrator seems like something we might have seen back in the 90s' when films about federal agents bringing down South American drug lords were all the rage. If Furman's film feels like an anachronism in that respect, it also makes us overlook that shortcoming by being a taut thriller with excellent performances. It's in very limited release, which is a shame because unlike other films on the same subject, it makes a statement about the banking institutions and shady financiers who enabled kingpins like Pablo Escobar to flourish. I may have neglected to mention the film is based on a true story.

Set in 1980s' Miami, Bryan Cranston plays Customs official Robert Mazur, who devises a plan to cripple Escobar's operations by focusing solely on the money transactions involved in Escobar's business rather than the cocaine traffic between South America and America. Taking on a dangerous case means selecting a suitable partner for undercover operations, which brings Mazur and a colleague named Emir Abreu (an excellent John Leguizamo) together. It also means endangering his happy, stable home life and the lives of his wife Evelyn (Juliet Aubrey) and two children.

The early scenes with Mazur and Abreu are amusing for the humorous banter. One such moment takes place in a cemetery, where the two men select names from tombstones for their undercover aliases. Selecting the name Robert Musella, Mazur and Abreu begin work.

With Abreu's street connections, Mazur is able to make contact with Escobar's low level, Miami-based father and son team Gonzalo Mora senior and junior. Adopting the persona of a wealthy business man with a successful aviation business, Mazur makes a business proposal to the Moras, which entails washing vast sums of money generated by Escobar's cocaine trafficking. Wary of the offer, the Moras suggest Mazur first handle a small sum to prove his competence.

Required to join the Moras in after vice, Mazur finds himself in a stripper bar. When Mora junior buys him a sexy stripper to enjoy, Mazur balks, loathe to cheat on his wife. Puzzled, Mora asks him why he doesn't partake. Mazur tells Mora he is engaged to be married and doesn't care to jeopardize his relationship. Mazur manages to narrowly extricate himself from the sticky situation, though the mention of a fiancee adds a wrinkle to his Robert Musella charade.

Annoyed that the mention of a fiancee necessitates actually finding a female agent willing to join the operation, Mazur's no-nonsense boss, Bonni Tischler (Amy Ryan) introduces a young, beautiful woman named Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger) as his bride to be. Abreu's reaction to seeing Ertz enter the room is priceless. After Abreu quizzes Mazur and Ertz about marital details to keep the agent's stories mutually consistent, the investigation continues.

Fitted with a lavish home and the trappings of luxurious lifestyle, Mazur and Ertz go to work following the trail of money laundering. Along the way, they meet bankers and money men from several nations; all willing to accommodate Mazur and his money laundering schemes. Mazur and Ertz also come into contact with another of Escobar's key personnel; Javier Ospina (Yul Vazquez); a sexually carnivorous dandy who makes a pass at Mazur, only to be aggressively rebuffed.

Seeking higher-ups in the Escobar organization, Mazur pursues Escobar's top money man Roberto Alcaino (Benjamin Bratt). Mazur undergoes a harrowing ordeal, which includes watching a man get shot by Escobar's men, to gain access to Alcaino. Upon making Alcaino's acquaintance, Ertz proves herself to be a convincing fiancee when she charms both Alcaino and his wife Gloria (Elena Anaya). Growing ever closer to the Alcainos; the deception begins to take on a life of its own as Ertz and Mazur begin socializing with the couple and forming a friendship. To make matters worse, Mazur and Ertz's faux-marriage becomes a little confusing as the stresses of the operation bring them closer together.

Mazur's undercover work begins take its toll on his marriage and family life as his wife suspects an affair. Evelyn is subjected to a ignominious experience when she and her husband step out for their anniversary dinner, only to run into Mora Sr. at the restaurant. In danger of blowing his cover, Mazur pretends his wife is actually his secretary and the dinner her birthday celebration. When the anniversary cake is delivered to the table, Mazur subjects the waiter to a humiliating divo exhibition that leaves Mora grinning and his wife silently aghast. His wife's dismayed reaction on the ride home is one of the more memorable moments in the film.

Everything comes to a head during Mazur and Ertz's faux wedding; where several of Escobar's associates, including Alcaino and his wife, as well as international bankers and money men, are lured into a bust. For Mazur and Ertz, watching the mass arrest go down is only a partially satisfying. The arrest leaves the Alcainos feeling betrayed while Mazur and Ertz can't help feeling treacherous.

Though the film is based on fact, elements reminded me of Donnie Brasco, including the scene where Mazur tees off on the waiter to deflect suspicion and the final scene, where the hero betrays his nemesis. But the film manages to succeed on its own terms.

I can't say enough about the exceptional performances. Cranston is especially good at capturing Mazur's conflicted feelings toward his job and his wife and the inherent fear that comes with risking his life. Bratt makes an intimidating underworld figure charming and worthy of the audience's sympathy. Leguizamo may not have Cranston's screentime but he is every bit as good while Kruger more than holds her own against the leading man.

Furman does well managing tension and drama and more than makes up for his earlier works; Lincoln Lawyer and Runner, Runner

Furman's film is unfortunate enough to open the same week as Ghostbusters so it will wander about the few theaters in which it is currently playing until it is assigned oblivion. For those who care to see it, fear not; nothing truly fades if streaming has a say.

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On DVD

Fury (1936)

Director: Fritz Lang

Though we might normally think of the films M and Metropolis when director Fritz Lang becomes the topic of conversation, less known is the legendary director's work in Hollywood. Having fled the ever-growing menace of Nazi Germany for America in the early 1930s', Lang eventually found himself under contract for MGM.

Though his work in Hollywood is very uneven, one standout is Fury, from 1936. Starring Spencer Tracy and Sylvia Sydney, the film's condemnation of mob justice seems spectacularly daring now, considering lynching was still a reality in Depression-era America. We don't see one black person in the film entire but we know precisely for whom Lang film is sympathetic.

Spencer Tracy plays Joe Wilson, who is arrested in a small town while en route to meet his fiance, Katherine (Sylvia Sydney). Suspected of being part of a kidnapping of a little girl, Wilson is arrested on the flimsiest evidence. While he sits in cell; angry and indignant, Katherine is puzzled as to why her fiance hasn't arrived at their prearranged meeting place.

But Wilson's fortunes take a darker and more dangerous turn when a mob--already on edge--is roused to anger. Egging one another on, the mob moves on the jailhouse where Wilson is being held. As the angry gathering becomes a mass, drawing citizens of the town into their swelling numbers, a lynch-mob begins to form. The sheriff, determined to see due process take its course, refuses their forceful demands. Becoming angrier and angrier and bolder and bolder, the crowd storms the jail, overwhelming the sheriff and his deputies. Unable to unlock the cell doors to reach Wilson, the mob sets the jailhouse ablaze as an alternate method of lynching.

Katherine, having arrived on the scene, faints when she sees flames engulf the cell where her fiance is held.

In spite of the mob acting as a faceless entity, its principle members are brought to trial though the town and the defendants maintain a conspiracy of silence, hoping to escape convictions and censure.

A sure acquittal seems imminent until damning evidence assures their guilt. When the majority of the members receive death sentences, Wilson turns up at his brothers, having survived the fire. Knowing the public is unaware of his survival, he vows to stay in hiding to ensure the mob conspirators are executed.

The scene where Katherine, nearly insane from grief, comes face to face with Joe is a powerful moment in the film. As she slowly recovers from her state, she realizes Joe's vindictive determination to see the mob hang is in itself a great injustice.

The story climaxes during a stirring courtroom scene that brings the fascinating story to a close.

I would have never expected Hollywood to make a statement as powerful as Fury made in 1936. Given the fact that lynchings in America at the time went unpunished, the movie railed bravely, in spite of the main character being white rather than black, against what was then the status quo. The Oxbow Incident would make a similar and commensurately powerful statement seven years later.

The film's willingness to peer into the darker side of American life could be partly attributed to Lang, who co-wrote the story and who was no stranger to exploring the darker side of humanity. Having seen evil flower in his home country, it makes sense Lang would choose to tell this story.

Spencer Tracy and Sylvia Sydney give wonderful, emotionally layered performances. Katherine's near descent into madness is depicted touchingly by Sydney. To see Tracy's mild-mannered Wilson become angry and vengeful is heartbreaking.

Even watching Lang's film on a small screen does little to diminish its power. Weeks after the viewing, I still can't shake its indelible images or its angry indictment of one of America's great crimes. One couldn't devise a better title than one it was given eighty years ago. Fury indeed.