The Informer

In this underwhelming thriller, retired soldier and ex-convict Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman) is the victim of double- and maybe even triple-cross when he's hung out to dry by both the FBI (for whom he's working under cover) and the drugs kingpin whose gang he has been tasked to infiltrate. Sent back to jail after being implicated in the murder of a New York cop, he must hatch an elaborate escape plan, clear his name and save the lives of his wife and young daughter. What may have worked well on the page (the film is based on the 2009 Swedish novel Three Seconds by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom) comes unstuck on the big screen as the makers try to shoehorn too many complexities into the running time, leaving gaping holes in the plot and several questions unanswered. Kinnaman is a stoic, serviceable hero, if a little light on charisma, although Rosamund Pike and Clive Owen are arguably the most witless, unconvincing feds ever to flash a badge.