Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/741600
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2016 40 This Week IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Inferno (12A) 10:20, 13:30, 16:05, 18:40, 21:15 Deepwater Horizon (12A) 13:45, 16:10, 18:30, 20:5 Bianconeri: Black And White Stripes (U) 10:30, 15:55, 18:25, 20:55 Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (12A) 10:20, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 Bridget Jones' Baby 10:15, 13:00, 15:45, 18:25, 21:05 The Girl On The Train (15) 10:30, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 Valletta Living History (U) 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:15, 13:00, 13:45, 14:30, 15:15 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 The Girl on the Train (15) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15 Deepwater Horizon (12A) 14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:10 Southside with You (12A) 14:10, 18:35 Storks (U) 14:10, 16:25, 18:30, 20:45 Blair Witch (15) 14:15, 16:20, 18:25, 21:15, 23:20 Café Society (12A) 14:15, 16:30, 18:40, 20:50 Don't Breathe (15) 14:15, 16:30, 18:50, 21:00 Sausage Party (15) 14:20, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10 Inferno (12A) 14:20, 18:05, 20:45, 23:30 Bridget Jones' Baby (15) 14:25, 18:20, 21:00, 23:30 Bianconeri: Juventus Story (TBA) 14:30, 18:10, 21:05, 22:55 Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (12A) 14:30, 18:15, 20:55, 23:35 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar (12A) 14:30, 18:10, 20:50, 23:30 Imperium (15) 16:10, 20:45 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 The Girl on the Train (15) 11:00, 13:30, 16:10, 18:35, 21:00 Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (12A) 10:45, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 Storks (U) 11:30, 14:00, 16:30, 18:35, 20:45 Inferno (12A) 10:40, 13:20, 15:55, 18:30, 21:05 Bridget Jones' Baby (15) 10:30, 13:15, 15:55, 18:30, 21:05 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (12A) 10:35, 13:15, 15:50, 18:30, 21:05 Deepwater Horizon (12A) 16:05, 20:55 The Infiltrator (15) 10:40, 13:15, 18:30 BASED on the account of Bob Mazur, The Infiltrator brings on board Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston – America's charac- ter actor du jour – to tell the story of how he helped com- promise Pablo Escobar's money laundering organisation in the 1980s. Helmed by Brad Furman – the director of low-energy and humdrum financial thrillers The Lincoln Lawyer (2007) and Run- ner Runner (2013) – this has all the elements of a great potboiler that only needs a dash of spice to become a truly delectable dish. But save for Cranston's pre- dictably engaging performance, nothing else in the film appears to be willing to eke out of gener- icsville. Respected US Customs Ser- vice agent Bob Mazur (Cran- ston) is ready to give up his role as an undercover agent, much to the delight of his concerned wife Evelyn (Juliet Aubrey). But then, a seductive job opportu- nity pops up: Customs appear to have a lead on how Colum- bian drug lord Pablo Escobar launders his money between Columbia and the US. With his wiry new partner Emir (John Leguziamo) in tow, Mazur – un- der the guise of 'Bob Musella' – penetrates deeper and deeper into this wide-ranging criminal network, coming face-to-face with both hardened gangsters and corrupt Panamanian bank- ers (!). He is also forced into un- comfortable loyalties as, edging closer and closer to Escobar's power circle, he forms a genuine bond with the gentlemanly Al- caino (Benjamin Bratt) and his wife Gloria (Elena Anaya) – one of Escobar's most powerful busi- ness partners. Really, thank the gods for Cranston. At least, this is what I imagine the committee of pro- ducers and executive producers saying as they oversee The In- filtrator going into production and distribution. As ever, he's a powder keg of an actor – even when he's giving us pretty much what we expect from his brand of mundane despair and sub- lime rage. It's no surprise that the person who breathed life in- to Breaking Bad's Walter White was picked for this particular role, either. Like White, Bob is forced to lead a double life: only in this case, the bad stuff is sanc- tioned by the law. It still makes for an awkward situation with his wife, and even here we get shades of Breaking Bad's Skyler in Evelyn's disapproval of Bob going deeper and deeper into his mission. But of course, the time limits of a feature film mean there's no space to develop the kind of complexity Skyler also enjoyed, with the consequence being that Evelyn is relegated to the role of the tut-tutting wife whose sole purpose is to communicate her disapproval at every step of the way. It's a generic role for the female lead, and her usurpation of by Diane Kruger's stand-in wife Kathy – brought in after Bob invents a fiancé while try- ing to get out of a sticky situa- tion – doesn't do much to add to the drama. Save for a weak will-they-or-won't-they strand that isn't quite followed up, the chemistry between Kruger and Cranston is weak – a shame, since we're talking about a cou- ple of highly accomplished ac- tors here. These details matter, because The Infiltrator is yet another example of a Hollywood-ready 'true story' that is compelling enough on its own, yes, but that needs to have some character to stand out from the myriad other films of its ilk. Like last year's Johnny Depp-starring Black Mass, The Infiltrator proves that simply obeying the rules of the crime thriller – and each traditional beat is diligently re- spected, despite it being derived from Mazur's real-life account – does not compelling viewing make. That undercover life ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ UNDERCOVER ★ ★ ★ ★ EXCELLENT LOVER ★ ★ ★ GREAT COVER ★ ★ TAKE COVER ★ KAMIKAZE LOVER FILM By Teodor Reljic THE INFILTRATOR (15) ★ ★ Uncomfortable alliance: Benjamin Bratt and Cranston A dangerous three-way: John Leguziamo, Bryan Cranston and Joe Gilgun in The Infiltrator