The Informer

What I loved about The Informer was the fact that its story takes place in the gray area - the good guys are not really that good while the bad guys are not so bad, except for those who are. So, I got excellent action and even more elaborate manipulation, with a great cast. The ubiquitous Russian mafia was replaced by the Poles, which I'm sure Patryk Vega would appreciate. (29.02.2020)

After a long time, I finally came across a truly suspenseful crime thriller that also ran like a well-oiled machine. I slowly started to think that nobody can make something like that nowadays. European creators once again gave their overseas counterparts a run for their money. I was delighted with Joel Kinnaman, who gave an absolutely riveting performance in the lead role, which contributed, among other things, to the masterly ending of the story. (85%) (20.06.2021)

An old-school thriller about a tough guy who has to figure out how to survive in prison as a snitch who's been thrown under the bus by his bosses. Joel Kinnaman tries hard, and there are a few excellently shot and suspenseful scenes, it's just that the whole of The Informer kind of unnecessarily steamrolls forward without giving the side characters the attention they deserve and that the makers probably would have wanted. It's quite a shame, because all it would hae taken was a little and this good movie could have been a great one. (18.11.2020)

The acting is first class, led by the perfect Joel Kinnaman and the delightful Ana de Armas, but Clive Owen, Common and Rosamund Pike are also good. It's a shame that the story brings nothing new to the table and the prison is only there for 30 minutes at most, but I still had a decent time. 6.5/10. (29.12.2019)

It’s good, but it could have been excellent, because it had everything needed: charismatic good guys, unassuming and appropriately sleazy bad guys, a raw prison, impressively authentic and grainy filters, down-to-earth direction; in short, everything in place for a quality street crime drama. Unfortunately, the second half slowly slides with its exaggerated inventiveness and subtlety from a gritty drama in the style of Shot Caller into a typically set (and predictable) Hollywood production with increasingly improbable situations and twists. For Di Stefano's second film, however, it's definitely decent and gives hope that other films will be similarly good, like the ones by Zahler, a specialist in crime dramas when he has the right guys and scripted finales. (10.06.2020)