By TeeJay Small | Published
I don't think any actor has ever gotten a bigger bump in his last television job than Bryan Cranston. Once Breaking Bad wrapped in 2013, Cranston began appearing everywhere in movies, TV shows, television commercials, and Broadway plays. While many of his post-Heisenberg roles are excellent, my favorite performance under Cranston has to be the best role of 2016. The Infiltrator. The movie made little splash at the box office and ultimately failed to make back its budget, but it holds up well in reruns as it airs on Hulu.
Like a grandfather Breaking Bad fan, I clearly remember the catch The Infiltrator in theaters and panting as I find a place. The film is a crime drama based on the true story of men who went undercover to kill the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar. Cranston leads the cast as United States Customs Service special agent Robert Mazur, based on Mazur's recollection of true events. Diane Kruger, John Leguizamo, Yul Vazquez, and The officeAmy Ryan plays the characters.
In case it didn't hit you right away, I found this movie funny just because Cranston was flipping through his script. Breaking Bad a person. On AMC TV's hit show, he portrayed a shy, gentle countryman living a double life as a violent drug lord. In The InfiltratorCranston is a bad thug who infiltrates Escobar's gang to shoot him and take down the entire operation. For fans of the show, this is like Walter White and Hank Schrader rolled into one mustachioed person.
Even if you've never seen it Breaking Badthere is much to enjoy The Infiltrator. The story is engrossing, the acting is top notch, and the cinematography leaves your head spinning. I vividly remember walking out of the theater back in 2016 thinking it was going to be a hit, so you can imagine my surprise when no one was talking about it at the water cooler the following week. The Infiltrator it currently holds an average 72 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes as well, so I may have very biased taste.
If I had to guess why The Infiltrator doesn't work well, I'd say it's probably because it tells the same story as the Netflix series Narcosif a little summarized. Narcos and it's about bringing down Escobar, although the series focuses more on the king's life and death, giving viewers a more complete picture of events. The film, in contrast, ends with Escobar's capture and trial in the late 1980s, just as Robert Mazur's career ended. Historians will note that Escobar finally managed to escape from prison in the early 1990s, spending the rest of his life on the run.
If you were one of the lucky few who caught this film in theaters ten years ago, why not give it another go today? Otherwise, this would be a good time for the first viewer to sit down and catch up The Infiltrator on Hulu.
