Streaming True Crime Story Sees Beloved TV Star Take Down The Cartel One More Time
Bryan Cranston is best known for his landmark performance as Albuquerque drug kingpin Walter White in the AMC series Breaking Bad. However, just a few short years after the Emmy Award-winning series concluded, there was another major project which showcased Cranston’s ability to take down the cartel South of the border. The Infiltrator stars Bryan Cranston as the undercover federal agent who took down real-life drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Based On A Real Life Infiltrator
The Infiltrator was based on an autobiography of the same name, written by former U.S. Customs agent Robert Mazur. During his time as a special agent, Mazur posed undercover as a corrupt businessman, in order to expose Pablo Escobar through his wide-spread money laundering operation. The screenplay was written by first-time scribe Ellen Brown Furman, and directed by her son, Brad Furman.
The Cast And Crew
Furman previously helmed such films as The Lincoln Lawyer, The Take, and Runner Runner. Along with Cranston, The Infiltrator stars John Leguizamo, Diane Kruger, Daniel Mays, and The Office‘s Amy Ryan. Though the film received widespread acclaim from critics, it failed to make a splash at the box office, taking in only $22 million globally against an estimated production budget of $28-$47 million.
Mazur Infiltrates The Cartel
The narrative of The Infiltrator centers on agent Robert Mazur’s 1986 assignment, Operation C-Chase, to infiltrate Escobar’s laundering operation, which funded his Colombian drug empire. While working alongside agent Kathy Ertz and agent Emir Abreu, Mazur gained the trust of low-ranking cartel members before working his way up the ranks to meet Pablo Escobar himself over the course of five years. Operating under the alias Bob Musella, Mazur subjected himself to intense rigorous protocols which nearly cost his sanity, his marriage, and his life.
Too Much For The Family
In the beginning, Mazur was forced to operate in a double life, living under constant stress as he navigated social events with his wife and children. According to Mazur’s wife, there were strobe lights installed in their house so that the children would know when they needed to silently retreat to their rooms under the threat of danger. Eventually, Mazur’s second life as the cartel infiltrator became too much for his wife to handle, causing him to commit fully to his undercover role and sever all contact with his family for months at a time.
Stream It Now
Despite The Infiltrator‘s status as a box office bomb, the film managed to impress critics, resulting in a 71 percent certified fresh critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
For those interested in true crime narratives, or those just curious about catching Bryan Cranston taking down the cartel from the other side of the law, The Infiltrator is currently available to stream for free on The Roku Channel. The film offers an invaluable insight into the inner workings of the United States’ financial institutions, and the lengths agents had to go to in order to take down history’s greatest drug kingpin.
