The Infiltrator (Brad Furman, 2016)

Bryan Cranston moves to the other side of the war on drugs as agent Robert Mazur, seeking to bring down Pablo Escobar's cocaine organisation in the 1980s. He duly sets himself as the got-to-guy for money-laundering on a massive scale and survives numerous close calls where his real identity is nearly exposed.
The disadvantage of fact-based stories is always two-fold: firstly, we are likely to know the end result, and yet secondly the awareness that it is a representation of actual events can be intrusive, in that any more extreme moment can raise a nagging doubt about how much the drama or violence have been souped up for effect. Nevertheless, Cranston's performance is as good as his Walter White, all smooth topshow covering barely-contained panic, and the menace surrounding him is quite palpable at times.

6/10