An NYPD narcotics agent recently diagnosed with stomach cancer, Tom Moran (played by Dominic Purcell), hears a retired cop go on a rant about how his pension is mere pennies compared to what his family would’ve received had he died in the line of duty. After hearing this, he convinces his partner, Detective Michael Thornton (Nick Stahl), and junkie informant Carlos (Erik Valdez) to kill him during a drug bust. Suspicious, a by-the-book internal affairs officer named William Learner (Russell Richardson) tries to uncover the facts while Lieutenant Kevin Hickey (Mel Gibson) tries to passively persuade him to let sleeping dogs lie.
Confidential Informant is available on demand now and will be released in select theaters on Friday.
The plot carries a lot of weight. So much so that the audience is forced to have their own internal debate on how they’d handle that situation. Stahl brings a great performance as Detective Thornton, wearing the inner-struggle on his face in just about every scene. Despite his limited screen time, Valdez is another shining light. He was absolutely believable as the nervous junkie who knows his life is about to end but also has a strong desire to help his estranged family.
Any time a film forces the discussion of a broken system into public consciousness (in this case, law enforcement benefits), it should be applauded. But if said public loses interest at the beginning of said film, that applause becomes more of a smattering, reserved for those who made it through to the end.
There were more scene changes in the first 40 minutes of Confidential Informant than there’ve been films released into theaters this calendar year. Also, Mel Gibson’s performance suffered because it seemed like all but two of his scenes were filmed without a single actor in the same room. Finally, this must have been shot on one of the world’s smallest sets because it had a real thin, amateur depth to it. Every bar scene is from the same vantage point with the same backdrop, every police station scene features the same two windows in the same corner with the same furniture and every strip club scene shows the same single table with the same two chairs at the immediate foot of the same stage with the same dancer. Maybe it was the complete absence of extras for interior shots but the film consistently felt flat.
While the story itself is powerful, and Stahl delivers on his performance, the ADHD scene splicing is a serious obstacle that prevents the movie from picking up steam. If you can get past the editing, you’ll really enjoy it. If you can’t, you won’t.
JKG SCORE: 4.5
Untitled Film Project 