THE INFORMER: Kinnaman Strives In The Spotlight In This Gritty Thriller

The Informer – directed by Andrea Di Stefano – stars Joel Kinnaman as Pete Koslow. Kinnaman’s character is an ex-con reluctantly working undercover for the FBI. Under the protection of Rosamund Pike‘s Wilcox and Clive Owen’s Montgomery, Koslov is given the task of infiltrating the polish crime syndicate in New York City – until a routine drug deal goes awry that results in Koslov given an ultimatum that has him not only fighting for the survival of his family but a fight against the very people that were protecting him. 

Akin to something that Stallone or even Schwazangger would star in during the 1980s. Di Stefano’s film The Informer feels like a throwback in every positive sense of the word. It is a rough and intense thriller that has a great deal of tension that propels it to stand out with its B-Movie qualities that would often than not hinder such a property.  

Character-driven Emphasis

Audiences have undeniably slept on the acting talents of Joel Kinnaman. Coming into international acclaim with his performance as Stephen Holder in The Killing. Kinnaman, much like his contemporaries Taylor Kitsch and Jay Courtney, were thrown into the franchise game and forced popularity to the degree that ultimately set them all back in terms of box-office reputation and acknowledgement of skill. Kitsch and Courtney were unsuccessful in dominating with John Carter, and Terminator Genisys, respectively, and Kinnaman took a stumble with both RoboCop and Suicide Squad. 

It has taken Kinnaman quite the reinvention to get himself back on track. A stronger focus on character-driven properties is the direction Kinnaman has taken with starring roles on both House of Cards and Altered Carbon. It is this very character-driven emphasis in which Kinnaman shines in with The Informer. It is a simplistic role, that being said, it is a role that holds a tremendous amount of emotional gravitas and subtle nuance in a physical performance that Kinnaman strives in developing. 

Supporting Cast a Set of Bloated Cameos

Kinnaman has much of the screentime and thus dictates most of the picture with his performance. He stands up well on screen with decent screen presence and his range a constant display of progressiveness that entertainments and engages. The negative of having Kinnaman left, right and centre to showcase his ability is that it results in the supporting cast put to one side as merely a set of bloated cameos.

Rosamund Pike and Ana de Armas are the only two supporting performances to have any direct character depth or screentime to flesh the narrative out. Ana de Armas, unfortunately, is not afforded much or if any screentime to make a mark with her character undoubtedly underwritten and is sadly left to stare profoundly into the abyss in most scenes. Pike‘s character is purely utilised as a plot device with her performance, one that does not have to say much with her characters’ actions verbally communicated aloud via her visual cues.   

The Direction Almost Capsizes the Narrative

The film sadly also wastes the talents of Common and Clive Owen in subplots that take the film in a direction that almost capsizes the narrative. Granted the underwritten performances of Rosamund Pike and Ana de Armas are undoubtedly underwritten but are still vital to the films overall central route. How the film utilises the performances of Common and Clive Owen is all the more underwhelming because the duo ultimately feels unneeded and overly stuffy, utterly wasting their talents and impact.

It is this overly stuffy feeling in which the film in its last act falls victim. There is a direction that is taking place that granted might be predictable but feels natural to the events that occur, and before writer-director, Andrea Di Stefano and Rowan Joffe can successfully put a full stop to the film, they go a step further and thus craft a very different picture to the one they’ve built. It is an issue that not only affects the end product but the tone and impact of the film before it, turning a gritty thriller into a film not so different from the action superhero genre. 

The Informer: Conclusion

The Informer for two-thirds of its running time is an intense thriller that is up to its teeth in grit and tension. Ultimately undone by a far too excessive approach in the action department and a narrative that buckles with an unreasonably cast list of resulting characters have simply not enough screentime or material to provide for sufficient impression. The Informer does, however, showcase a tremendous central performance from leading actor Joel Kinnaman that services as a vehicle of sorts to provide his critics with the very talent that has been hidden from audiences.

Will you be heading out to catch the latest from Joel Kinnaman, or has that time passed? Please let us know in the comments below!

The Informer was released in cinemas on September 30th, 2019 in the UK and will release in the USA on January 10th, 2020.