THE INFILTRATOR

Bryan Cranston   Diane Krueger   John Leguizamo   Benjamin Bratt   Olympia Dukakis   Amy Ryan

          Based upon a real operation in the 1980’s, The Infiltrator is edgy and tense, with periodic earsplitting bloody horrors that make you jump out of your seat.  (After about the sixth time, this gets to seem like an annoying cinematic trick, to quiet the screen before an explosive blast that kills someone.) Despite this little annoyance, the story is exciting and well told by Director Brad Furman and writer Ellen Sue Brown (book by Robert Mazur).  It is fascinating to see the day-to-day planning and execution of such an operation, and the film is especially good at showing us the binds secret agents must undergo in forming close alliances with criminals only to betray them.  The agony and thrills also come as they act out their made-up personas and have close calls, such as a recording device being discovered.

           Bob Mazur (Cranston) has had a long career in U.S. Customs as a special agent.  He is eligible to retire, but is always staying on for “one last job.”  This operation is to infiltrate Pablo Escobar’s Colombian Medellin Cartel to interrupt the flow of cocaine to this country by following the money laundering trail.  Mazur’s idea is that this will bring them to the players at the top.

          Cranston’s Mazur makes a convincing portrayal of a skilled, experienced agent who is still able to be surprised and even a little flummoxed.  It’s an interesting character study into someone who is reliable, stable, and genuine in his private life but adept at taking on a role where he is able to use those traits to get someone to trust him in a basically duplicitous relationship.  And for the most part, this character is hardened to emotional pulls, but does show some vulnerability after oh-so-close calls.  Cranston pulls this off without even seeming to be trying, a natural.  He is a large reason to see the movie.

          Diane Krueger as another agent, Kathy, playing Mazur’s “fiancé” is a worthy partner in both acting and in the film’s special operations story.  It’s a nice touch to present her as an agent first who is new on the job and rather plain, then show her to be a sharp, glamorous, multi-lingual woman who warmly reaches out to her partner’s contacts.  (I remember her especially for her portrayal of a border agent in the TV drama “The Bridge”, someone with a touch of Asperger’s.  None of that here!)

       Other actors deserving of credit are John Leguizamo as Mazur’s unpredictable co-agent, Amy Ryan as the head of the Customs agency, Olympia Dukakis as Mazur’s flamboyant aunt, and Benjamin Bratt as Mazur’s wealthy mark who befriends Mazur and Kathy.

A thriller that will grab you and make you jump in your seat.

Grade:  B                         By Donna R. Copeland

BRIDGE OF SPIES

Tom Hanks     Alan Alda     Amy Ryan     Austin Stowell

          James Donovan seems like an ordinary fellow, very successful in his law firm and well grounded in his ethics.  He will be asked to serve his country in a way that strains his sense of what is right and unleashes threats against his family’s safety.  Donovan (Hanks) is a true believer in the best sense of the word.  He interprets the U.S. Constitution in a way that continually guides him in his practice. 

        Enter the FBI and CIA and their sometimes questionable operations, and Donovan is asked to negotiate an exchange of prisoners as a private citizen without any official appointments.  It seems that this is how deals are negotiated among countries.  One (the U.S.) has something another (USSR) wants, but there is an additional complication of an American student being detained on suspicion of spying by East Germany (who also has a stake in the trade).  So we have three powers—the U.S., Russia, and East Germany—negotiating a single exchange.

      As is typical of Spielberg films, the plot is intricate, somewhat mystifying in the beginning (a phone is answered after many rings, but no one speaks), but ultimately details for the audience every critical element, ending with an uplifting and a gently humorous conclusion.  Music by Thomas Newman (Skyfall, American Beauty) and cinematography by Janusz Kaminski (Schindler’s List) contribute to the fine production value of the film.

      Hanks will certainly be praised for his expertly rendered main character, showing his doubts, certainties, and sincerity in multiple ways.  He plays James Donovan, the lawyer who actually was the lead negotiator in the exchange of the prisoner Francis Gary Powers for the Russian spy Rudolph Abel during the Nixon Administration.  The real Donovan was apparently a gifted negotiator who always got more in exchanges than was expected.  

      I was especially fascinated with the actor, Rylance, and the part he plays.  As the Russian spy, he delivers pithy, terse pronouncements with a completely deadpan face, such as “The boss isn’t always right; but he’s always the boss.”  And “What’s the next move when you don’t know what the game is?”  He even warns his lawyer that, “You should be careful” when he makes a risky play.  Rylance is not as well known for films, but has received many accolades for his theater work (e.g., Tony awards, Laurence Olivier Theater Awards, and others).  I remember him most as Thomas Cromwell in the recent TV mini-series, “Wolf Hall.”  Cromwell’s personality was similar to Abel’s in its understated, carefully composed, but succinct observations.

      Not much time is spent on Powers (Austin Stowell), probably because he was somewhat unpopular upon his return home because he didn’t end his life when he was supposed to.  On the other hand, it was ultimately established that he stood firm and did not reveal any State secrets when he was in Russian hands.

A real-life thriller based on a historical event.

Grade:  B+ By Donna R. Copeland