Review: The Infiltrator

Straight off the bat, I must say that I don't watch Narcos. But I will probably will do at some stage as I hear nothing but good things about it. But as I don't have access to on-demand services and Sky, I rarely see the majority of the best TV series the world has to offer at the moment.

I was surprised to see during the trailer that this story was going to involve Pablo Escobar, especially when there is a TV series about him right now. The general look of it and Bryan Cranston and John Leguizamo looking good in the bits that I saw got me interested and expecting quite a tense crime story. I was not expecting to be interested in this as I am not usually fussed on films involving drugs. The best ones I usually appreciates more than anything else as the I struggle really care for the characters.

While I still had the same expected feelings afterwards, I will say that it was better then I expected.
The film gets into the situation nicely and makes us understand the danger are protagonists are in. The second act does have its moments of drag can confuse you, especially if you are aware of that particular industry. Thankfully, everything gathers pace again and the finale is a satisfying one.

The cast is strong as a whole. Bryan Cranston is as good as everyone knows he can. You can feel the pressure his character was under and just wanted him to come out unscathed.
The always under-appreciated John Leguizamo is a strong supporting role and I hope to see him in more projects. It was a nice surprise to see people like Diane Kruger and Jason Isaacs as I like anything they do. Kruger blossomed really nicely as the film went along, ended up having a great partnership with Cranston on screen and I felt stole the show for me.
I also have to give props to the performances of Benjamin Bratt and Yul Vazquez.

Not many negatives to speak of. The biggest one was the many bland moments, especially in the second act. I understand there were certain moments that needed explaining. But it was not engrossing me enough.

Despite all that I still had a good time. I liked it rather than loved it. It does not make new ground. But it managed to peak my interest despite not usually going nuts for a drugs related story. The duration may feel along straight after seeing it. But I think it does give enough time to process what is going on. I think its just about worth your money. The performances are strong on the whole especially Kruger, it's surprisingly gripping, it's shot nice and it has a surprisingly good soundtrack.

Rating: 7/10