The makers of this film threw plenty into the mix of a deceptively simple story of a reluctant IRA man (Anthony Brophy) forced to turn supergrass when caught redhanded carrying out a rocket attack on a judge. There are enough bits and pieces thrown in here about the 800-year history of the troubles to give a decent idea of the big picture, even to those like myself who aren't all that familiar with Irish history. We see a bit of the historical background, the current English, Loyalist and IRA positions, how hatred is perpetuated through the next generation, how the innocent as always are victimised the most. It's a heady mix in a gritty and disturbing film, and to their credit, the film makers quite rightly decided not to resolve their story, just like the Troubles themselves. One quibble. Despite good performances, it's a bit hard to accept the central characters being as old as they're supposed to be. Ginger (have I spelt that right?) is meant to have have spent a total of 10 years in prison and we assume his wife has spent an equal time doing it tough raising the kids. It's a bit to believe this when they are played by young spunks Brophy and Maria Lennon.
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mar924 June 2001
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A compelling plot line and good acting from Timothy Dalton, somewhat hampered by his on-again-off-again Irish accent, with superb efforts from Carey Elwes, Maria Lennon and Anthony Brophy, make this film a must see for anyone with an interest in "The Troubles".
Although the plot tends to be somewhat heavy handed in its depiction of the English being the good guys, the storyline does a great job leading us through the torment of one man's decision to tout and the ripple effect this causes on everyone he's known. Maria Lennon plays the tortured wife exceptionally well and allows us to imagine the how painful living in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s must have been.
Were it not for the bias of the plot line being so one-sided I would have given this film a 9 out of 10. -
pbalos8 August 2000we've seen this story before in different variations, however overall this isn't bad. Some good acting especially (and as usual ) by Dalton.One is able to identify easily with this version because it's the most recent, but still nothing can quite surpass the excellent 1935 film.All'n all, it's worth seeing.
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gottfrid19 August 2003This is arguably the best film there is about the troubles in Northern Ireland. Unlike films like Michael Collins, or In The Name of The Father, in this movie the IRA members are not shown as the romantic quasi-heroes they are thought to have been ages ago, they are shown as what they really are now: terrorists, capable of destroying the lives of not only their enemies, but also of many irish families who try to follow the normal course of their lives. The informant of the title is an ex-IRA assassin who makes a deal with the police, and gives the name of his employers. He and his family are then considered traitors of the "irish" cause, even though his wife, being more influenced by anti-brit propaganda, was against the so-called betrayal from the start. But she fails to escape the turmoil that follows: the poor girl is even raped by an IRA ganglord, as some kind of punishment for their betrayal, in a scene that certainly does away with the romanticism that can be expected from such a theme. This is certainly a view of the subject never shown in recent films about the Northern Ireland troubles. At the end of the day, unlike other similar films, there is no "moderate" faction of the IRA to solve things up, no Daniel Day-Lewis type guy to save the day, but only the feeling that things go on unsolved...
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dredd19812 January 2005This film is something of a mixed bag! As a fan of Timothys work I was eager to watch this film just to see Tim Dalton,and not so much for the "Troubles" storyline which,and lets face it,Hollywood has done an abysmal job of bringing to the big screen. Dodgy accents aside,this is a fairly accurate film which shows the IRA as the thugs they are,murdering police officers and shooting children. I thought Timothys performance was pretty good,although the accent needed a bit of work. Cary Elwes was thoroughly annoying as the army lt trying to befriend "gingy", who was equally irritating because he constantly had that "i picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue" look on his face. If you want to see a fairly accurate portrayal of the terrorism that existed in Northern Ireland in the 1990's warts and all,watch this movie! If you want to cling to the belief that the IRA are heroes fighting for truth,justice and a pint of Guinness instead of being the murderers and drug dealers they really are, then my advice is to get real!
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edpond10 November 2021Don't think I've ever seen so many characters behaving so stupidly or unbelievably in one film:
-The wife tells her mum the address of the safe house, then goes off on her own when she's clearly at risk from reprisals - cue nasty rape scene. Even if she was angry at her husband turning informant, she would know that she and her son would be in danger. On top of that, nobody keeps an eye on her.
-The soldier guesses something is up with the bike, in a warzone city known for its IEDs, then proceeds to go right next to it and hang around. Boom.
-A battle hardened ex IRA terrorist needs someone to hold his hand in court.
-The court for a high profile terrorist murder case is allowed to be filled with a baying Republican crowd.
-They let a kid in witness protection go out on his own, then the kid steals a gun and tries to shoot some other kids.
-A kid who's knees have been blown off is super keen to help out the group that did it (the terrorist did apologise to him and ask nicely after all).
-The IRA somehow can find out exactly when and where a particular soldier is out on patrol, ID him and shoot at him. Also as the soldier is so important in an operation, the Army let him go on normal patrols where he could die.
-A soldier involved in a terrorist case thinks it's a good idea to take his girlfriend to meet the ex-terrorist. And the list goes on.
It's terrible writing, suspect acting, poor use of music (that Stiff Little Fingers track stopping and starting). Dalton's presence is good, but even he can't save it - certainly not with that accent, they should have made him a Special Branch Brit. It's good there is some balance and a comment on the horrors of civil war, but it's pretty poor. -
I stumbled onto this on Showtime on a rainy night and expected little of it. To my surprise I was drawn into the plight of those trapped in the vicious stand-off of "The Troubles".
The movie conveys powerfully the oppressiveness of the weight of history that sustains the hatreds and the impossible dilemmas faced by people trying to navigate between the opposing forces.
The acting is generally excellent, particularly Maria Lennon as the wife torn between her husband and her loyalties. Anthony Brophy is superb as the trapped husband. The only weak link is Timothy Dalton who chews a bit too much of the scenery as the detective reeling in the unwilling informant.
The lengthy nude scene of Simone Bendix as Cary Elwes' lover is not "essential to the plot" but Simone is so stunning it would be churlish to complain.
Taut and effective. Give it a look. -
andy00724 October 1998Don't get fooled by the seemingly interesting plot, the movie lacks any action whatsoever. The plot also turns out to lack any depth. In addition, the movie is very inconclusive. The only highlight of the movie was Timothy Dalton's Inspector Rennie. My vote: 1
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fab-2813 April 2005This film depicts the work of the IRA with no sentimentality or romanticism and for that I commend it.
The storyline is convincingly written. The acting is very good all round but I would give an outstanding mention to Maria Lennon whose work I had never seen before and Timothy Dalton from who this is just one more excellent performance. The one downside were a couple of the accents, including (and maybe most noticeably) Dalton's. Accents have never been his strong point! That said, he lends the role the same toughness yet humanity that he has to several other characters in his career, Bond included - all-round believability.
There is a twist that I found disappointing but I won't spoil it for those who have not seen it and may be thinking of doing so. -
a-lawson-118 February 2006pretty rubbish. Timothy Dalton's Irish accent is laughable. The portrayal of the English soldier as some sort of hero is utter crap and after reading other peoples comments on this film its pretty clear that they are motivated by their political beliefs rather than how bad the quality of acting really is. In terms of the conflict in n.i, no one has their hands clean. By portraying the I.R.A as thugs and then the British soldiers and R.U.C special branch as the good guys takes away any impartiality and leaves you with the same unionist crap about how the British were impartial upholders of the law in Ireland and the nationalists were all terrorists.
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longshot_dk23 August 2003Well I am in the middle of doing my thesis for my masters degree in history and my subject is the IRA. Now, this film, although it is quite good, beats around the stereotype picture I sometimes read about the English government would like to project as part of the criminalisation of the IRA. Hereby not defending any of the involved parts, I just find it sad to see, how narrowminded the irish basically are portrayed while the archtype of chivalry is of course english (and notice the stupid scotsman in the end of the movie). This could be something out of an english propaganda film!
If you look away from this, the movie is wellwritten and well played. there is a lot of human expressions of love and hate, and it all fits nicely together. I enjoyed the film, but thought that it just as well could have been a mobster movie...there were so many things that were wrong but still, it was nice... 5/10 -
pulp1506 March 2001Predictable story. Acting isn't very good but I've seen worse.
Timothy Dalton has done better. The fade-ins and -outs were really annoying. I regret buying the DVD. -
mickyb-16 June 2005This movie is by far the best of its kind. It is the most accurate description of the troubles in Northern Ireland i have seen. Unlike "Michael Collins" and other such movie's, The Informant did not idolise the I.R.A yet showed them for their true selves. Criminals, terrorists... But the movie didn't only focus on violence. It focus'd on a family, trying to get away from it all, trying to turn over a new leaf and start over. but to do so, the man of the family must "Inform" the R.U.C of names of the I.R.A members. In doing so he brings trouble on his family. Shame to his name, being a former I.R.A member, the lead of this movie really played his character to full potential.
I would have to rate this movie 9 out of 10. -
joelknight-0368130 May 2022This isn't bad film by any means, it's well shot, and the premise is highly plausible. However it does really paint the British/Loyalist side as the hero's when like all conflicts it's not that black and white.
Clearly written by someone who hated the IRA cause and as an English person myself it's down the fact that many aren't taught about this in school.
To get a more unbiased story of the Troubles and the History of Ireland, I recommend 71, or The Wind That Shakes The Barley.
Take it for what it is. -
clefstick-115 May 2005Unusually accurate telling of the novel with completely rational deletions. Superb acting and screenplay from a terrific novel. I love The Pogues but their music here is topically relevant but distracting and out of tone with the rest of the movie...at least to non-Irish fans of The Pogues music who may not share associations with this music. It's one of those cases where everything is terrific and one element, wonderful on its own, pulls down the rest by its presence. I recommend for students of screen writing contrasting the script with the novel. Nicholas Meyer is a keen master of screen writing and his other adaptations and films he has directed are a textbook study.
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DOstr124 June 2001Engrossing, suspenseful, honest drama: the best film on "the troubles" ever made.
Put this up against the other IRA movies of recent years, and they pale by comparison.
A visceral experience of the tortured Irish landscape; characters of great depth and complexity.
An even-handed look at both sides of the coin, Protestant and Catholic. What goes on there is, after all, a tragedy for everyone.
This is a movie all should see. -
tomwardell3 June 2020I liked this movie for what it was , not for what it wasn't . I thought Timothy Daltons acting was tight . He looked well within his element as the badass cop with revenge on his mind or a vendetta he knows is right . To me Dalton seemed like Clint Eastwoods Harry Callahan but with a certain fury and not so many moments of levity and friendship . I liked that Dalton seemed to impart that certain fury without it letting it dominate the characters life . I remember the scene where Daltons character explains the reason for his fury and it seemed like both he and the character felt comfortable with whatever drove Dalton to be where he was at and the character he portrayed was imparting that calm to the audience . The Harry Callahan character was always set good guy / bad guy style . Clint has always had a wry smile in his shoot em ups , Truer smiles where he looks truly happy in so many other great movies . Dalton has been funny in Hot Fuzz but it seemed to me he was decidedly comfortable and content as a baddass cop in The Informant . Maybe I witnessed actors nirvana or I just saw the actor the way he felt when he auditioned for James Bond .
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folsominc21 June 2020Going thru my Timothy Dalton phase, I wanted to see this movie, especially since the only clip I could find was the one in which the bomb goes off. Dalton (DCI Rennie) captured the heroic hero in which I like to see him as he grabbed the wife (Maria Lennon) and children and protected them with his body. And the chemistry between Roisin McAnally (Lennon) and DCI Rennie was very palatable in this scene. Unfortunately, this really was the best scene in the entire movie.
Viewing the complete film, however, I see that the "Informant" was a very realistic version of the terrible situation that existed during the film's time period of the 70s and 80s as well as a constant threat of the IRA vs. the Orange Order in Northern Ireland. Both were vicious with hundreds of years of hatred on their backs and in their memories.
Being stuck in the middle, as Gingy was, who wanted an end living the life of constant threat he only dug himself in deeper with no real view in sight of the simple lifestyle he longed for. He lost the respect of his children and the love of their mother by turning traitor, and the PSNI obviously did not really care or respect him at all. As his wife said at one time to Rennie, "You have destroyed my man." Fear of more prison time and remorse at having been forced into the situation by his "friends" completely deflated his nature. He knew not long after he turned that he had probably made the biggest mistake of his life.
Dalton's character was not only amazing but realistic as the threatening DCI, half threatening and half trying to convince Gingy to turn, whole cynical and even repulsed by Gingy for turning traitor anyway. It was all a matter of control, which Rennie (Dalton) apparently enthused in. He obviously had more respect for the wife than for Gingy and her biting remarks and looks back at him.
Dalton's character for the moment at the window while watching Roisin nurse her baby reeked with a type of hunger for a split second. Possible hunger for sexual pleasure but also could have been a hunger for the innocence of the picture it made until she looked up. The character may have longed for a less violent life as well but kept up the pretense because it was his job. Reflections of Timothy Dalton's James Bond character who hated himself for his lifestyle comes to mind here. Rennie's thoughts are left to the imagination of the viewer.
After thirty years of study of the conflict of the Irish (my mother is writer of Irish books), two visits to Ireland, and talking to the Irish, I feel that the movie was well produced reflecting the signs of the times.
The Irish Republican Army, which began in 1919-1922, were recognized as the real leaders of Independence from the British rule. Their leaders broke open the minds of the people to show that their countrymen did not have to live under constant threat and rule and deserved to control their own land. They had to fight the bloody Black and Tan war where English sent in criminals/convicts to control the people.
Unfortunately, as many good groups that start, over the years in the bitterness of battle, they lose their perspective of what and why they are fighting and crave the violence of death vs. the perspective peace available to them. I thought it was very significant in the plot that the "chief" of the IRA section chose to break the kneecaps and cigarette burn a 13-year old boy because he was the only one they could think might have betrayed Gingy.
There was also a noteworthy scene with Gingy's son, Gerald (Ciarán Fitzgerald), bursting with pain and anger to attack five boys (signifying how really outnumbered his father was) with a rock (or clump of dirt), they endeavored to kick him to death, and then Gerald turned to the officer's gun to kill. It was clearly stating that the urge to use stronger and stronger force until death was indebted into the nature of the young.
On my first visit to the Republic of Ireland, we witnessed armed officers standing around a bank. The bus driver told us it was because of the threat of the IRA bank robbers. Upon further questioning, the bus driver stated that the IRA were nothing but a "bunch of thugs." They made life miserable for all the other people, even in Southern Ireland.
As for the Garda in Ireland, we found, unfortunately, several of them unfriendly and unhelpful to tourists. I endeavored to understand that they had to be on the constant look out for deception, but tourism is their number one industry. The people, strangers, were fantastic though and even one commented, "Americans! Are you spending your money?" Hahaha!
Reading many of the comments regarding the English Army officer, apparently they did not believe that he could be polite and unbiased in that situation. However, I felt Lt. David Ferris (Cary Elwes) was extremely believable. He did not have the hatred of hundreds of years and was only "in deployment" in the area. He stated once, "It is really none of my business." So, it would not be hard to believe that he felt he had no dog in this local fight. He was a "visitor." He saw the humanity of both sides. He was, regrettably, shortchanged by his superior officer which ended up in him getting killed.
The real disappointment of this film, almost any film of this type, is the use of naked bodies and excessive cursing and foul language. In writers and producers yearn for "realism" they do not realize that something can be conveyed strongly, even more strongly, without the necessity of offensive scenes that have nothing to do with the flow of the plot.
The obligatory sex scenes!
Gingy and his wife commencing relations, Ferris and his girlfriend, even the rape scene, understandable for the plot but unnecessary to have the viewer "experience" it. And the use of the "F" word is so overdone, it becomes less effective in nature and takes away from the meaning of the script.
Nevertheless, ending on an upside, Dalton's performance was amazing as usual, his accent, despite other dissenters, was delicious - his deep voice combined with the rumblings of the Irish accent was yummy! Dalton always goes head over heels deep in his roles which has attracted me from the first a couple of months ago and this film is no different.