CONFIDENTAL INFORMANT (2023)

Movie Review

MPAA: R
Release Date: 06/29/23 [VOD]
Genre: Thriller.

Studio: Lionsgate

THE PREMISE:

"A police detective suffering from cancer makes a deal with an informant to get killed in the line of duty, so his family can receive the hefty death benefits from the department." 

OUR MOVIE REVIEW:

Confidential informant is a painfully drab, uninspired and exhausting experience from start to ‘oh thank god it’s finished.’ This bumpy journey begins with a clunky, awkward scene at a police station and is pedal to the mundane metal in the remainder of the home video… I mean ‘film.’ Mel Gibson is top billed, yet appears on camera as simply someone who happens to work at the aforementioned police station. This is the extent of his character, he’s the cliche ‘wise guy’ cop. He utters his lines as if he is reluctantly making a video for someone on Cameo, but with noticeably less conviction. 

There is a distracting disconnect between the actors’ interactions and the footage makes it seem as though everyone had filmed their respective parts in separate locations and then were hastily chucked together in an editing room with complete disregard of crafting a coherent plot or respectable characters with any pertinent personality or purpose. 

Actors mumble lines throughout, making the dialogue barely intelligible (without subtitles) over the poorly executed sound mixing. The booming bass of the vapid soundtrack drowns out the words of the characters through much of the movie, but fortunately I didn’t feel like I was missing out on much. The audio was so abhorrent, I blamed my sound system at first, but then after lowering my bass and maxing out my treble, I still had trouble deciphering the dialogue in many instances.

On a more positive note, Nick Stahl gives it his all with little to work with. I enjoyed him in Sin City and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and it was nice to see him back on screen, albeit not under the best of circumstances.

Confidential Informant suffers from a dismal plot, trite characters, banal action sequences, uninspired visuals and abhorrent sound issues that all coalesce into a brutally unpleasant viewing experience.