As an ex-convict, working with the FBI to infiltrate a local (Polish) drug cartel is always something of a risk. But for Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad, Knight of Cups), it has resulted in his release from a maximum security prison and time back with his family. Problem is – the FBI need him back inside the same prison.
It’s all a little complicated as ‘good’ is pitted against ‘good’, bad against badder and good against baddest. And it turns out that not all is as it seems – the heavily-tattooed Kinnaman was little more than an average Joe until some macho gang member insulted his wife, Ana de Armas (Knives Out, Bladerunner 2049). Yet head FBI honcho, Clive Owen (Children of Men, Closer) is up to something – and probably at the expense of Kinnaman and his handler, Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, A Private War). Good job the local detective, Common (Selma, Suicide Squad), is on the ball and smells a rat. And all this plus the drug cartel!
The Informer sounds full of predictabllity and cliches, but the reality is director Andrea Di Stefano (Escobar: Paradise Lost) has pulled off something of a superior, genre-busting gang thriller. Brash and brawn it may be and the film would have benefitted from some stepping-back reflection. But it’s entertaining brashness.
Rating: 63%
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