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 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. Yet head FBI honcho Clive Owen is up to something – and probably at the expense of Kinnaman and his handler, Rosamund Pike. Good job local detective Common 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 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%
Director: Andrea Di Stefano (Escobar: Paradise Lost)
Writer: Matt Cook (Triple 9, Angel Has Fallen), Rowan Joffe (28 Weeks Later, Brighton Rock), Andrea Di Stefano (Escobar: Paradise Lost, Mare nero) – based on the novel by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström
Main cast: Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad, Knight of Cups), Ana de Armas (Knives Out, Blade Runner 2049), Clive Owen (Children of Men, Closer)
An Opinion or Two 