Based on the memoir of customs agent Robert Mazur going undercover in 1985 to expose money laundering schemes involving Pablo Escobar, this thriller had Jack and me on the edges of our seats. With the reliable Bryan Cranston (last blogged for Trumbo) in the lead it's a sure thing. Sidekicks include John Leguizamo (most recently in these pages for Chef), Diane Kruger (last in Farewell, My Queen), and Juliet Aubrey as the wife (though she has many credits, I don't recognize her). Also starring in powerful roles are Olympia Dukakis (now 85, she is an Oscar winner for Moonstruck (1987), and was great in Steel Magnolias (1989), Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City (1993) and its sequels, Mighty Aphrodite (1995), Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), Away from Her (2006), In the Land of Women (2007), and Joe Papp in Five Acts, to name some highlights of her career) and Benjamin Bratt (my favorites of his include Traffic (2000), Miss Congeniality (2000), Thumbsucker (2005), Love in the Time of Cholera (2007), 36 episodes of Private Practice, and five of Modern Family). The cast is enormous.
Director Brad Furman (we last saw The Lincoln Lawyer) works from a script adapted by his wife Ellen Brown Furman from Mazur's book, and the music by Chris Hajian (I don't believe I've seen a single other one of his 59 credits) adds suspense. You can listen to a five minute soundtrack preview here or start with this one and let youtube lead you on. The inclusion of the funky tune Eminence Front by The Who from 1982 gave me much pleasure, too.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics weigh in at only 68% and audiences at a more respectable 78. We saw it two weeks ago and now it's on its way out of our area. It's quite good and, if you don't get to see it on a big screen, the DVD release is set for October 11, 2016.
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