I dare you to watch Confidential Informant, the latest from South African filmmaker Michael Oblowitz (Frank and Ava), and not wonder what the hell is going on. And I don’t mean that because the film is layered or confusing; I mean that because the editing, pacing, writing and performances are so sloppy that big reveals are stepped on, twists are untwisted, and dramatic moments are sapped of any sense of urgency or tension. The film is such a perfect mess that a part of me wants everyone to check it out as a Master Class on how not to make any part of a movie.
For reasons I’m not clear on, Mel Gibson’s Kevin Hickey (I think he's a police captain or some shit) narrates this noir-ish thriller about two narcotics agents hunting for a cop killer during a crack epidemic (I believe the story is set in the 1990s, but again, unclear). Gibson’s character is very much a supporting player in this story, but since the actor is also the most famous person in the movie, he gets to narrate as well. The agents are Moran (Dominic Purcell) and Thorton (Nick Stahl), and they get involved with their junkie confidential informant, paying him a little something in advance if he keeps his ear to the ground about the cop killer.
Around this time, Moran finds out from his doctor that he has stomach(?) cancer and not long to live. He learns from a retired officer that if you die on the job, your spouse gets far more insurance and union money than your pension would provide, so he enlists the junkie and his partner in a scheme that will result in both his death and the informant’s (whose family in Puerto Rico will also be quietly compensated; the junkie is HIV+ and is looking to die sooner rather than later as well). The plan doesn’t go smoothly, but the end result is the same. Even still, Internal Affairs agent Learner (Russell Richardson) starts poking around at the double shooting and Thorton’s strange story about how things transpired, putting the entire plan at risk.
For much of the film, the viewer knows more than any of the characters in the film, since we’re seeing both sides of the investigation. This is a fairly common tactic used in crime dramas, so what makes Confidential Informant so different is that when Learner deduces the truth about the whole affair without truly understanding the motive, Thorton just gives him the motive, even though the two have been at each other’s throats for the entire movie. Kate Bosworth plays Moran's wife/widow, and as much as I’ve enjoyed seeing her pop up in a whole lot of smaller movies lately, she is given next to nothing to do here, and it’s a genuine bummer to see her wasted like this.
I rarely use press notes when I’m writing my reviews, but I had to glance at the plot synopsis of this film to make sure I didn’t miss something big (I did not). I did notice that the notes refer to the movie’s “explosive finale.” I don’t know much about combustible materials, but I promise you nothing about any part of this movie explodes. In fact, the climax is about as explosive as a cap gun.
The only thing that generates any heat in Confidential Informant is Gibson, who exists in a completely different universe than everybody else. He’s crusty, vulgar, loud, and frankly, slightly interesting compared to the mumbling, flaccid zombies elsewhere in the cast. At one point, we learn that Thorton is sleeping with a stripper, who steals money from him before she slinks out of his bed at night. Other than to emphasize that his alcoholic life is a certified mess, I’m not sure why we need to know this, but I think that about a great deal of what we learn in this dopey movie. The failure of this film is complete and deep-seated, and I hope all of you die-hard Gibson fans love it.
The film is now playing in theaters and available on VOD.
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