Every single summer, almost like clockwork at this point, we are berated by ‘suspenseful’ films like “The Infiltrator,” and every year I lose hope for the espionage genre. In this case, the cinematography was generic, the plot threw away too many good opportunities to make this more than just another C-rated action flick, and the director forced the main star, Brian Cranston, to carry the entire show for the two hour duration.
The film was a predictable mess. The writers had made their ambitions clear from the beginning for this to follow the Hollywood formula. Instead of trying to make something different or interesting, the writers wrote a script which provided safe profit margins for the studios involved.
It was obvious, from Cranston’s character Robert Mazur rejecting the option to retire in the beginning, to the most disappointing ending of a movie I’ve seen in a long time, that this film was geared toward people who don’t pay attention to the movie when they’re in the theater. It was for the absent minded who are willing to spend their money to sit in the most boring roller coaster ride of a film, and still come out saying it was a good movie because they don’t see the patterns that are fed time and time again.
These patterns can be seen in fan favorites, such as "SiCario," "Red Dawn" and even "James Bond." In this film, the problem is introduced, then it becomes too intense for the protagonist to handle, and then all of a sudden it’s solved in a conveniently packaged way that washes the protagonist’s hands clean of all ailments.
Cranston’s involvement made this film somewhat bearable. Even though every time I see him I think of meth, that predisposition shed off as I saw his skin burning from the constant malfunction of a wire underneath his shirt sparking profusely over his chest, causing a life threatening injury. His character was a perfect fit for his acting niche, and hence his performance was great.
However, the casting technique for this film is a plague which has been spreading across Hollywood for a while. You see this type of madness in sports, where a team makes it very far because of one player; but in the end, it’s obvious the prodigy was never enough to take the world cup back home. However, where most of the sport teams in these situations are predisposed to only having players within one country to work with, the film industry is far from being stuck with this issue.
This film could have been redeemable if the majority of the casting budget wasn’t spent on getting one A-list actor. Rather than hiring Cranston and getting scrap actors alongside, why not invest in up-and-coming, upper level B-list, or older A-list actors who are obviously more cost effective.
Movies like the "Green Room," a horror film that came out earlier this year, used actors like the late Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poot and Patrick Stewart to be able to spread the workload over a number of actors, making the product higher quality.
I could go on for a while pointing out different aspects of the film I didn’t like and how to fix them, but why waste the breath. If you’re looking for an espionage film, watch a Jason Bourne movie. If you’re looking for an exciting action film, watch the new “Star Trek.” Whatever you do, don’t waste your time on this bile.
