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Director Brad Furman’s fantastic new film, The Infiltrator, is opening in theaters this week. The movie is based on Robert Mazur’s autobiography The Infiltrator: My Secret Life Inside the Dirty Banks Behind Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel and stars Bryan Cranston as Mazur, in a story about his efforts to infiltrate one of the biggest drug trafficking rigs of all time. If you don’t know the history here, it’s pretty incredible: Mazur spent five years undercover as a money launderer while he learned about the hierarchy of the drug underworld, and gained valuable information that would result in the indictments of 85 drug lords and their corrupt banks.

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Image via Good Films

Unlike some films that try and glamorize certain parts of being undercover, what makes Furman’s take on the material so good is everything feels authentic, and you’re always on the edge of your seat. He also gets into the real relationships that form when you spend so much time undercover, and the lines begin the blur. If you’re looking for a smart adult thriller that has a great story and excellent performances, I really recommend checking this film out. The Infiltrator also stars John Leguizamo, Diane Kruger, Joseph Gilgun, Amy Ryan, Jason Isaacs and Benjamin Bratt.

At the recent Los Angeles press day I spoke to Bryan Cranston. During my exclusive interview he talked about making the film, what surprised him to learn about the story while researching the role, and upcoming projects like Power Rangers, the Wes Anderson stop-motion movie and James Franco’s The Masterpiece. Check out what he had to say in the video above.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Based on a true story, Federal agent ROBERT “BOB” MAZUR (Bryan Cranston) goes deep undercover to infiltrate Pablo Escobar’s drug trafficking scene plaguing the nation in 1986 by posing as slick, money-laundering businessman Bob Musella. Teamed with impulsive and streetwise fellow agent EMIR ABREU (John Leguizamo) and rookie agent posing as his fiancé KATHY ERTZ (Diane Kruger), Mazur befriends Escobar’s top lieutenant ROBERTO ALCAINO (Benjamin Bratt). Navigating a vicious criminal network in which the slightest slip-up could cost him his life, Mazur risks it all building a case that leads to indictments of 85 drug lords and the corrupt bankers who cleaned their dirty money, along with the collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, one of the largest money-laundering banks in the world.

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