The Informer
04/09/19 Filed in: Cinema
After the formulaic Angel has Fallen, the subject of my last review, I found this film to be a breath of fresh air with a reasonably credible story line and enough suspense to keep me interested. I was, therefore, surprised to return home and find that on Rotten Tomatoes it received the same 39% from the critics as did Angel Has Fallen. There was no audience figure as it is due for release in the States in January next year. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, never one to give credit where it's not deserved, restored my faith somewhat with a three-star rating, saying however that it might have made a better episodic drama on TV.
Rosamund Pike seems to be getting a taste for action dramas, shedding her 'English Rose' persona. Here she plays FBI agent Wilcox who's been working for four years to infiltrate a Polish drug ring. The key to success is her informer, Pete Koslow, who we learn was released from a 20-year prison term after four years specifically to help the FBI. The plan is about to come to fruition with 6 kilos of heroin arriving in diplomatic pouches for onward transmission. The FBI agents are following but Pete's Polish partner changes the plan saying he has an immediate buyer. But this buyer turns out to be a cop who's way out of his depth, for which he pays the ultimate price.
Agent Wilcox now has an informer implicated in a cop killing, with an NYPD officer, Grens, intent on finding who did it. Grens turns out to be much more resourceful than the FBI expected and soon makes it clear that he has a fair inkling of what's going on. Meanwhile the 'General', the leader of the drug ring, is less than pleased at what's gone down and wants Pete to make amends, insisting that he returns to Bale Hill prison to set up a drug supply chain and oust the existing drug pushers. Wilcox sees this as another chance to bring down the drug ring and persuades Pete to play along. But it all goes wrong and Pete is hung out to dry in a place where you would not want to be the marked man. Wilcox has in fact been told to 'burn him' in order to protect the Bureau, something she struggles with having promised Pete she would look after both him and his family.
Pete, an ex special operations soldier and sniper, must employ all his resourcefulness to stay alive. Meanwhile Wilcox is having second thoughts, and Pete's wife Sofia has decided that contacting Grens may be the least of all evils. It all comes together in a tense climax, which perhaps stretches credibility a bit, but it is certainly gripping. I felt that there was a nod towards The Silence of the Lambs at one point, although not quite as gruesome.
I shall be interested to see how the audience score pans out on Rotten Tomatoes after the US release, my feeling being that it might contradict the critics downbeat assessment.
Pete, an ex special operations soldier and sniper, must employ all his resourcefulness to stay alive. Meanwhile Wilcox is having second thoughts, and Pete's wife Sofia has decided that contacting Grens may be the least of all evils. It all comes together in a tense climax, which perhaps stretches credibility a bit, but it is certainly gripping. I felt that there was a nod towards The Silence of the Lambs at one point, although not quite as gruesome.
I shall be interested to see how the audience score pans out on Rotten Tomatoes after the US release, my feeling being that it might contradict the critics downbeat assessment.