The Informer

The Informer
Starring Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Clive Owen, Common
Directed by Andrea Di Stefano

Growing up I remember the days when there was only a few channels and on the weekends those channels ran B-rated action, comedy and horror films that merely existed to fill space knowing no one would be watching them because it was the weekend.  "The Informer" falls into that category nicely, and what I can appreciate about it is that it knows its B-rated, and yet still manages to provide some brief moments of brilliance even though it overstays its welcome by at least thirty minutes.

Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman) is a former convict who's now living a quiet suburban life with his wife Sofia (Ana de Armas) and their young daughter, and is very content with everything - except for the fact that he works as an informant for the FBI for being paroled early, and he constantly finds his life in danger as he goes undercover to expose narcotics deals in town.

One of those deals goes bust when an undercover cop is killed, and Pete is chosen by the narcotics kingpin to take the blame and go to prison.  This helps FBI agent Erica (Rosamund Pike) and her boss Montgomery (Clive Owen), as they plan to use Pete on the inside to bust a bigger drug ring, but there's a hitch in the form of NYPD officer Edward Grens (Common), who's investigating the death of his friend who was undercover.  While in prison, Pete discovers a corrupt system that threatens to destroy him, as even the FBI turns their backs on him as his cover gets closer to being blown.

"The Informer" - as I said earlier - is a great B-rated action thriller, but doesn't rise above other better works like "The Departed" or "The Town."  The script seems too big for its purpose, and drags on for a little over two hours of double and triple crosses that you surprisingly feel very numb about.  None of the characters are remotely interesting, and even the actors themselves seem to not want to be there - they all give off the appearance that they're better than this film, and they're right.

Joel Kinnaman tries to wrestle his way through the script but often looks either lost or pissed off at his agent for giving him this type of vanilla gig.  You can see Rosamund Pike's mind wheeling - "I'm an Oscar-nominated actress, what am I doing here?" is something you can tell she thinks about.  Clive Owen breezes through this role as it's pretty much customary flare for him as he plays the bureaucratic FBI boss who's willing to turn a blind eye and abandon all hope at a moments' notice.  Common plays a similar role and I seriously think he was in another film like this where he plays a spoiler who has no clue what he's really getting into but kind of lucks his way out of most situations, and Ana de Armas is absolutely wasted as Pete's loving wife who has nothing better to do than appear doe-eyed and think about the upcoming "Knives Out" sequel. 

The story involves a twisting, bending world of double and triple crosses where you need a wall full of notes to connect them, but the film doesn't offer enough enticing incentive to do so.  It's simple in its method and tries to be something cooler than it is, leading to an overall vanilla film that has a few decent action shots and little to nothing else. 

Wasting the talent of several A-list celebrities, "The Informer" is a shadow of greater films that's overstuffed with plot and lacking more action sequences to make the audience care about it.

The Score: C-