The informer
2019
15
director: Andrea De stefano
starring: Joel Kinnamon,Rosamund pike,Ana de armas,Common,Clive own etc
overall rating 73/100
When ex convict Pete coslow gets involved with a shooting of a NYPD cop. He has to go back to prison in order to stop a drug gang from getting away with there crimes. But the lifes of his wife and child is at risk and its up to officer wilcox ( rosamund pike) to help him be reunited with his family. The informer was a good thriller but a flawed film, but still thoroughly entertaining lets get into why this is.
First of all the film did a fantastic job of delivering an incredibly tense tone. The film did a fantastic job with keeping you on the edge of your seat. in fact i think this is up there with the most tense and unsettling films of the year in my opinion. The film just put the audience through so many uncomfortable situations. and with the lack of soundtrack it really helped with the authenticity of the film. Whether it was being attacked in the prison or in my opinion the most uncomfortable scene when the main characters wife and child was being gagged and threatened. Also the violence and gore helped with the entertainment value of the film. But also added to the tense tone and impact of each scene with a heads up some very gory things that were borderline 18 rating in my opinion.
however my first issue is the slow pacing in the first half of the film. In my opinion the first half of the film was very slow and made me lose interest a few times. There was just a lot of filler conversations and standing around that left me needing something to spice the film up and make it more entertaining. But luckily they more then redeemed themselves in the second half of the film where it had a absolutely fantastic final act. They really went all out in the last half of the film to make you care about all of the characters and to keep you on the edge of your seat. With all the action was non stop within the last 30/45 minutes of the film so this more then made up for the first half of the film.
Next i think the informer had a good amount of emotional weight to it. The fact that Joel Kinnamons character. Just wanted to get to his family and the love he showed them really made his character more respected in my opinion. And you related to him a bit more because most people are close to there families so being away from them is hard so everyone could passively relate to his emotional state with his wife and kid.
Next i think they really portrayed the harsh reality of prison life really well. A lot of films with prisons in can be very tame with what they show maybe due to the age rating but this film. Showed the types of people the horrible conditions that prisoners rightly have to go through so this was just a nice touch to see. However i do have to say that the film was very stereotypical with what type if inhabitants take up prisons. I think having a lot of the prisoners black and to have it split by colour is fairly old fashioned and they should of picked a more diverse group of people.
Now my final two positives would be the fantastic acting was Joel Kinnamon and Rosamund pike. Rosamund pike was fantastic in the cop role. She was clever and did not take no for a answer whilst also having a kind heart and a nag for doing the right thing. And joel Kinnamon showed great diversity in the film. His character had a great blend of intimidation,vulnerability and perseverance and despite maybe not agreeing with some of his actions largely he was a character that you could support.
However i do have to end on my final two negatives. First of all there was next to no character development or depth to most of the characters. Most of the characters were very one dimensional. And Petes wife did next to nothing in the film apart from being Petes motivation she was just a damsel in distress which was a shame considering the films of today with strong female characters. And finally there was some incredibly dislikable characters. Some of joels workmates who killed policemen and threatened his wife and kid were just sick and really made you not like there characters. I know this was the goal but for whatever reason something was off about some of the characters that really made you question the reasoning for them being there in the script.
Overall the informer is a thoroughly entertaining and tense thriller with excellent acting. But is narratively flawed and could used with more developed and likeable characters.
overall rating 73/100
When ex convict Pete coslow gets involved with a shooting of a NYPD cop. He has to go back to prison in order to stop a drug gang from getting away with there crimes. But the lifes of his wife and child is at risk and its up to officer wilcox ( rosamund pike) to help him be reunited with his family. The informer was a good thriller but a flawed film, but still thoroughly entertaining lets get into why this is.
First of all the film did a fantastic job of delivering an incredibly tense tone. The film did a fantastic job with keeping you on the edge of your seat. in fact i think this is up there with the most tense and unsettling films of the year in my opinion. The film just put the audience through so many uncomfortable situations. and with the lack of soundtrack it really helped with the authenticity of the film. Whether it was being attacked in the prison or in my opinion the most uncomfortable scene when the main characters wife and child was being gagged and threatened. Also the violence and gore helped with the entertainment value of the film. But also added to the tense tone and impact of each scene with a heads up some very gory things that were borderline 18 rating in my opinion.
however my first issue is the slow pacing in the first half of the film. In my opinion the first half of the film was very slow and made me lose interest a few times. There was just a lot of filler conversations and standing around that left me needing something to spice the film up and make it more entertaining. But luckily they more then redeemed themselves in the second half of the film where it had a absolutely fantastic final act. They really went all out in the last half of the film to make you care about all of the characters and to keep you on the edge of your seat. With all the action was non stop within the last 30/45 minutes of the film so this more then made up for the first half of the film.
Next i think the informer had a good amount of emotional weight to it. The fact that Joel Kinnamons character. Just wanted to get to his family and the love he showed them really made his character more respected in my opinion. And you related to him a bit more because most people are close to there families so being away from them is hard so everyone could passively relate to his emotional state with his wife and kid.
Next i think they really portrayed the harsh reality of prison life really well. A lot of films with prisons in can be very tame with what they show maybe due to the age rating but this film. Showed the types of people the horrible conditions that prisoners rightly have to go through so this was just a nice touch to see. However i do have to say that the film was very stereotypical with what type if inhabitants take up prisons. I think having a lot of the prisoners black and to have it split by colour is fairly old fashioned and they should of picked a more diverse group of people.
Now my final two positives would be the fantastic acting was Joel Kinnamon and Rosamund pike. Rosamund pike was fantastic in the cop role. She was clever and did not take no for a answer whilst also having a kind heart and a nag for doing the right thing. And joel Kinnamon showed great diversity in the film. His character had a great blend of intimidation,vulnerability and perseverance and despite maybe not agreeing with some of his actions largely he was a character that you could support.
However i do have to end on my final two negatives. First of all there was next to no character development or depth to most of the characters. Most of the characters were very one dimensional. And Petes wife did next to nothing in the film apart from being Petes motivation she was just a damsel in distress which was a shame considering the films of today with strong female characters. And finally there was some incredibly dislikable characters. Some of joels workmates who killed policemen and threatened his wife and kid were just sick and really made you not like there characters. I know this was the goal but for whatever reason something was off about some of the characters that really made you question the reasoning for them being there in the script.
Overall the informer is a thoroughly entertaining and tense thriller with excellent acting. But is narratively flawed and could used with more developed and likeable characters.