Review: The Informer

Opening in limited release and on VOD beginning November 6 th is the new crime thriller entitled The Informer. Co-written and directed by Andrea Di Stefano (Escobar: Paradise Lost), the film stars Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad) as an ex-special operations soldier and former convict working undercover for the FBI to infiltrate the Polish Mob’s drug trade in New York. In addition to Kinnaman, the film stars an all-star cast of actors that includes Golden Globe-nominee Ana de Armas (Knives Out), Academy Award-nominees Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) and Clive Owen (Closer), and Academy Award-winner Common (Selma). The result is a fairly standard crime thriller that elevates its own genre with an entertaining and fast-paced script, smart action, and compelling performances from its excellent cast.

After serving a prison sentence for accidently killing a man while protecting his wife (de Armas) in a bar fight, Pete Koslow (Kinnaman) is recruited by FBI handler Erica Wilcox (Pike) to go undercover in the Polish Mob and stop their drug trafficking in New York. But, when a cop is killed during a drug-buy gone wrong, it sets in a motion a chain of events that pits NYPD detective Edward Grens (Common) against Wilcox and her FBI boss, Montgomery (Owen). Things get even more complicated for Koslow when the Polish Mob asks him to go back to prison in order to secure their hold on the correctional system’s drug trade. Now, with his wife and daughter hanging in the balance, Pete must pit the mob, the FBI, and the NYPD against each other, in order to survive prison, escape, and protect his family.

What starts off as a standard action-packed crime thriller is quickly elevated by its intricate plot and complex characters. Di Stefano sets a fast-pace for the action with all its twists and turns but allows room for the characters to grow. The film has a lot of different elements going on.
It’s a mob movie, a drug dealer movie, an undercover cop movie, and a prison movie, all at the same time, and Di Stefano orchestrates all of it into one coherent story. While the law enforcement and mafia characters are somewhat typical for an action film, Pete Koslow is an extremely complex character and his relationship with his wife and daughter is at the heart of
the movie. The action scenes are compelling, but it’s the film’s final sequence in the prison that is really spectacular. Di Stefano also surprisingly sets up the movie for a possible sequel, which I would be interested in seeing since there are so many different directions you can take this character.

Actress Ana de Armas, who was the breakout star of last year’s Knives Out, is excellent as Pete’s wife, Sofia. She has the thankless job of playing the “damsel in distress,” but brings a warmth to the character and has great chemistry with Kinnaman. Rosamund Pike also gives a commanding
performance as a dedicated by troubled FBI agent, and keeps the audience guessing about her character’s true intentions. Clive Owen plays Pike’s FBI boss, and while the actor is solid in his couple of scenes, I do wish he had a larger role. Rounding out the supporting cast is Common, who is adequate in his role, but is definitely the weak link in the cast. His performance as a “rogue” New York cop is pretty standard, but he does deliver the goods in his scenes with de Armas and Pike.

But it’s Joel Kinnaman’s performance that really makes the film work. I’ve been a fan of Kinnaman since I first saw him on the TV series The Killing, and I really loved his work on the first season of Altered Carbon. But since the actor made the leap to big screen with performances in Suicide Squad and the Robocop remake, I haven’t been terribly impressed with his work. He was completely miscast in Robocop, and I didn’t think he was able to hold his own against Will Smith in Suicide Squad. So, I wasn’t sure if Kinnaman really had what it takes to make the transition from television to film, but The Informer proved me wrong. Kinnaman carries the movie with his electrifying performance and creates a very complex character that you want to root for. In the end, The Informer isn’t something you haven’t seen before, but it is an extremely well executed crime thriller, with compelling characters, strong action, and a great cast of actors.