"Escobar: Paradise Lost" director Andrea Di Stefano's gritty underworld crime thriller "The Informer," toplining Swedish/American actor Joel Kinnaman, ranks as an above-average prison break yarn whose credibility wears thin about a quarter of an hour before fadeout. Although he starred in the theatrical "RoboCop" (2014) remake and joined the cast as Rick Flag in "Suicide Squad" (2016), you may be more familiar with Kinnaman's co-stars, namely Rosamund Pike, Common, Ana de Armas, and Clive Owen, than with the Swedish/American. The tall, lanky actor with gimlet eyes, who bears a striking resemblance to actor Keith Carradine, hasn't landed that major movie role yet which would confer household name recognition. Nevertheless, he gives a good account of himself as a volatile ex-con harassed and betrayed by the Polish Mafia, the FBI, and the NYPD, in this adaptation of Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom's bestselling 2009 novel "Three Seconds." The filmmakers have shifted the setting from Scandinavia to New York City. Basically a polished B-movie boasting several good scenes, "The Informer" has no shortage of intrigue and action. As far as informant movies go, this complex take on the genre bristles with double and triple crosses that should occasionally surprise you like somebody sneaking up behind you on phantom feet and tapping you on the shoulder when you least expect it. Kinnaman's utterly sympathetic hero finds himself at the mercy of several unsavory villains eager to snuff him out. The circuitous twists and turns in the screenplay penned by Matt Cook of "Triple 9," Rowan Joffe of "The American," and Di Stefano are comparable to the wicked spirals in a barbed wire fence. Ostensibly, "The Informer" adheres to much of what took place in the award-winning novel. Apart from the change of setting, the film substitutes the deadly opioid fentanyl for the novel's use of amphetamines as the contraband which our hero must smuggle into the prison. Clive Owen stands out as Rosamund Pike's arrogant FBI boss in this tense R-rated epic.
A second-generation Pole who distinguished himself during four tours of duty in the Gulf War as a highly decorated sniper, Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman) survived combat in Iraq, but suffered afterward from post-traumatic stress disorder. Initially, FBI agent Wilcox paroled Koslow from prison where he was pulling a 20-year stretch for killing a foul-mouthed biker in a brawl who had insulted his wife. After Wilcox's FBI superior Keith Montgomery (Clive Owen of "Killer Elite") approves Koslow as her snitch, she embeds him in the Polish mob. As "The Informer" unfolds, we learn Koslow must sell 6kg of fentanyl smuggled in diplomatic pouches through the Polish embassy. Suddenly, everything goes sideways for Koslow when his cronies make an impromptu stop to sell product to a Latino gangster. Pete suspects the Latino, Daniel Gomez (Arturo Castro of "Bushwick"), may be an undercover NYPD cop. He resorts to intimidation tactics to frighten off the Latino without exposing the latter's identity to the trigger-happy gunman Stazek. Unfortunately, the frustrated narc pulls his pistol on him. Stazek (Mateusz Kosciukiewicz of "Suicide Room") shoots Gomez in the back. This murder occurs while Pete is wired up and Wilcox is listening. She cancels the FBI operation immediately and disperses her team. Stazek and his accomplices sink the narc's mutilated body in the river. Afterward, Stazek ushers Pete into the presence of notorious General Klimek (Eugene Lipinski of "Rollerball") who explains the demise of an NYPD cop is "bad for business." As the General sees it, Stazek saved Pete's life when he shot the narc. Now, the General coerces Pete to break his parole, go back to prison to serve out his original sentence, and smuggle the fentanyl into the facility. The General wants him back in Bale Hill Prison in two days. Klimek lays it out for Pete. "With fentanyl, we can have tens of thousands hooked on our product." He predicts that with those hooked inside and those hitting the streets after their release, the Poles will have an army at their disposal. Predictably, Peter is reluctant about going back to prison. He fears for the lives of his wife, Sofia (Ana de Armas of "Knock Knock"), and his teenage daughter Anna (newcomer Karma Meyer), when he accepts the General's ultimatum. Naturally, this surprises the FBI, but Wilcox convinces Montgomery that they can still bust the General with Pete back in prison. Imagine Pete's paranoia as he reenters Bale Hill.
Not only does "The Informer" benefit from Andrea Di Stefano's energetic helming, but also his stauch editing. He orchestrates a variety of subplots with agility. This nimble crosscutting enhances the film's spontaneity as well as its suspense, making its 113 minutes tolerable. When he isn't putting Koslow through the wringer, Di Stefano intensifies the treacherous relationship between Clive Owen's obnoxious FBI superior and Rosamund Pike's naïve field agent. The best movies keep their heroes behind the eight ball until the finale. Indeed, Di Stefano and company never let poor Koslow off the hook, especially at fadeout when the procedural issues surrounding his case linger. Treading a tightrope between good and evil, Rosamund Pike's conflicted FBI agent Wilcox struggles to maintain her own virtue. She convinces Pete to re-enter prison, but Montgomery is prepared to burn both of them if the operation goes sideways. Detective Grens (Common of "American Gangster") enters the picture as Gomez's vengeful NYPD superior. He poses a serious threat to both Pete and the FBI. Sadly, we don't see nearly enough of Eugene Lipinski's insidious General who disappears far too early and doesn't pay the piper. As the General's homicidal henchman, Mateusz Kosciukiewicz is so oily you may applaud his comeuppance. As a sadistic prison guard, Sam Spruell is so sinister you cringe when he wields his clout. No matter what happens, everybody both inside and outside of Bale Hill prison manipulates our hero.
A robust pastiche of crime & prison movies, "The Informer" mingles both genres with enough gusto to make its cliches captivating once again.
A second-generation Pole who distinguished himself during four tours of duty in the Gulf War as a highly decorated sniper, Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman) survived combat in Iraq, but suffered afterward from post-traumatic stress disorder. Initially, FBI agent Wilcox paroled Koslow from prison where he was pulling a 20-year stretch for killing a foul-mouthed biker in a brawl who had insulted his wife. After Wilcox's FBI superior Keith Montgomery (Clive Owen of "Killer Elite") approves Koslow as her snitch, she embeds him in the Polish mob. As "The Informer" unfolds, we learn Koslow must sell 6kg of fentanyl smuggled in diplomatic pouches through the Polish embassy. Suddenly, everything goes sideways for Koslow when his cronies make an impromptu stop to sell product to a Latino gangster. Pete suspects the Latino, Daniel Gomez (Arturo Castro of "Bushwick"), may be an undercover NYPD cop. He resorts to intimidation tactics to frighten off the Latino without exposing the latter's identity to the trigger-happy gunman Stazek. Unfortunately, the frustrated narc pulls his pistol on him. Stazek (Mateusz Kosciukiewicz of "Suicide Room") shoots Gomez in the back. This murder occurs while Pete is wired up and Wilcox is listening. She cancels the FBI operation immediately and disperses her team. Stazek and his accomplices sink the narc's mutilated body in the river. Afterward, Stazek ushers Pete into the presence of notorious General Klimek (Eugene Lipinski of "Rollerball") who explains the demise of an NYPD cop is "bad for business." As the General sees it, Stazek saved Pete's life when he shot the narc. Now, the General coerces Pete to break his parole, go back to prison to serve out his original sentence, and smuggle the fentanyl into the facility. The General wants him back in Bale Hill Prison in two days. Klimek lays it out for Pete. "With fentanyl, we can have tens of thousands hooked on our product." He predicts that with those hooked inside and those hitting the streets after their release, the Poles will have an army at their disposal. Predictably, Peter is reluctant about going back to prison. He fears for the lives of his wife, Sofia (Ana de Armas of "Knock Knock"), and his teenage daughter Anna (newcomer Karma Meyer), when he accepts the General's ultimatum. Naturally, this surprises the FBI, but Wilcox convinces Montgomery that they can still bust the General with Pete back in prison. Imagine Pete's paranoia as he reenters Bale Hill.
Not only does "The Informer" benefit from Andrea Di Stefano's energetic helming, but also his stauch editing. He orchestrates a variety of subplots with agility. This nimble crosscutting enhances the film's spontaneity as well as its suspense, making its 113 minutes tolerable. When he isn't putting Koslow through the wringer, Di Stefano intensifies the treacherous relationship between Clive Owen's obnoxious FBI superior and Rosamund Pike's naïve field agent. The best movies keep their heroes behind the eight ball until the finale. Indeed, Di Stefano and company never let poor Koslow off the hook, especially at fadeout when the procedural issues surrounding his case linger. Treading a tightrope between good and evil, Rosamund Pike's conflicted FBI agent Wilcox struggles to maintain her own virtue. She convinces Pete to re-enter prison, but Montgomery is prepared to burn both of them if the operation goes sideways. Detective Grens (Common of "American Gangster") enters the picture as Gomez's vengeful NYPD superior. He poses a serious threat to both Pete and the FBI. Sadly, we don't see nearly enough of Eugene Lipinski's insidious General who disappears far too early and doesn't pay the piper. As the General's homicidal henchman, Mateusz Kosciukiewicz is so oily you may applaud his comeuppance. As a sadistic prison guard, Sam Spruell is so sinister you cringe when he wields his clout. No matter what happens, everybody both inside and outside of Bale Hill prison manipulates our hero.
A robust pastiche of crime & prison movies, "The Informer" mingles both genres with enough gusto to make its cliches captivating once again.