★★
An ex-convict working undercover intentionally gets himself incarcerated again in order to infiltrate the mob at a maximum security prison.
Classification: 15
Despite a strong lead performance from Joel Kinnaman, The Informer is a tired, boring crime thriller that couldn't thrill its audience except for a few choice moments when the story actually decides to do something. Andrea Di Stefano wants to craft a dramatic story akin to modern action crime thrillers complete with Eastern European goons, wiretaps, and shootouts, the storyline especially bears some resemblance to the Brawl in Cell Block 99. At times it can feel Di Stefano took the structure of that film, stripped everything that made it visceral and memorable and replaced with mundane, laborious subplots that never develop or excite the audience beyond initial introduction. Its only until the third act when Kinnaman's character finally decides to take charge of his situation that the film gets marginally exciting but its too late as the rest of the cast and script have done very little to get the audience invested in the film.
The Informer wants to make itself stand out with its content and performances but it all feels like retreading exasperated ground. Kinnaman's character of Koslow is shown to be a capable snitch dealing with shady feds but there's no real hook to care about the story beyond Kinnaman's charisma. Ana de Armas as Koslow's wife is used for emotional leverage to generate sympathy in the story but their situation is nothing new and the sense of tragedy the film tries to build with their relationship just doesn't feel earned. While those two try their best to build a tangible connection with their characters the rest of the cast is just going through some very tired motions. Pike and Owen as Koslow's federal agents dampen the weak tension with every scene due to their poor characterisation and dialogue. Common as a spirited detective is just a case of second-hand embarrassment as his attempts of characterisation are filled with obnoxious New York accents and typical cop show clichés.
Bad accents are almost a recurring theme of the film as the plot requires many hackneyed Polish criminal accents complete with tattoos and misogyny. The world of The Informer isn't a pleasant one but it doesn't want any real commentary on the state of crime in America or the morality of law enforcement, it just wants to be this lame crime fantasy of murder, drugs and snitches. Again portions of the film feel like Di Stefano watched far superior films in the genre and then cobbled together a piss poor script that he and his buddies thought would be "badass" not realising that the most compelling elements of their story were non-existent. The content of the film itself doesn't make it exciting as the direction very rarely creates genuine moments of tension or surprise. The Informer at times just feels likes it sitting and waiting for its third act as so much of the expository scenes and dialogue just drag which in turn just cancels out any excitement for the third act. It's a film focusing on all the wrong elements to make a compelling crime thriller, thinking violence and profanity are all is needed to stimulate but without a strong script or compelling characters, nothing about The Informer is compelling at all.
The pacing of the film is just a burden, despite the high stakes of the plot it just isn't very gripping. Kinnaman is holding the entire film on his shoulders but still, he can only do so much to distract from the monotony of The Informer. It takes too long for Koslow to get back into prison then the film just barrels through when he gets there, Di Stefano has no real idea of how to properly tells this story and clearly just wants to get to the "excitement" and doesn't care how he gets there. Either its sequel bait or a poor attempt at a tragic ending but even the climax and conclusions of the film aren't entirely logical and immediately feel like a splash of cold water against all the character work Kinnaman put into the film. It just feels too long and doesn't do enough to keep itself interesting for the audience, the threat of danger hanging over the character's heads feels non-existent due to the underdevelopment of the threats and antagonists of the film.
A waste of talent and for some a waste of time, fans of Kinnaman and the genre might garner some enjoyment for The Informer but the filmmakers haven't done enough to have the film stand apart from the never-ending flow of prison crime dramas that haunt on-demand services. A strong lead performance can't salvage weak supporting performances and an even weaker script but its Kinnaman's emotional intensity as Koslow that makes the slog through the runtime less of a chore.
Director: #AndreaDiStefano
Cast: #JoelKinnaman, #RosamundPike, #Common, #AnadeArmas, #CliveOwen
Release Date: August 30th 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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