The Informant

1997 "Even freedom has its price."
6.3| 1h45m| R| en
Details

A former Irish Republican Army fighter, Gingy McAnally (Anthony Brophy), is reluctant about being called back into service after serving time in prison. He executes the grisly task but ends up captured by a sympathetic British police lieutenant named Ferris (Cary Elwes). The intimidating Chief Inspector of the Belfast Police (Timothy Dalton) convinces Gingy that his best hope is to become an informant and turn in other IRA operatives. As Gingy's marriage unravels under the stress, he is forced to come to terms with the fact that in this war both sides lose. Three men, three political circles, each fighting for their lives, each with their own agenda in the battle for Northern Ireland.

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Reviews

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.
Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie
Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
dredd1981 This 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!
mar9 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.
Craig Anthony 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.
pbalos we'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.