Suicide by crook.

Today’s movie is Confidential Informant, a Tubi Original that reminds us that Mel Gibson will do just about anything for a role these days. Directed by Michael Oblowitz and written by Michael Oblowitz, Brooke Nasser, and Michael Kaycheck, Confidential Informant is effectively two films in one and I’m moderately on board for it. I didn’t particularly enjoy it but I didn’t hate it either.

The first half of the film stars my personal favorite Dominic Purcell as Detective Tom Moran, a cop recently diagnosed with stomach cancer. After speaking to another retired cop about death benefits, Moran decides that the best thing he can do for his family is to die in the line of duty and get them all kinds of really neat goodies from the state. So Moran and his John Connor (Nick Stahl) who plays Detective Michael Thornton concoct a plan with their confidential informant to set up his murder. Thankfully the informant is also dying of aids and is in for the double suicide.

Confidential Informant feels like someone built the script by feeding every cop drama into an algorithm. Mel Gibson plays the role of Lieutenant Kevin Hickey, a bitter aging cop whose job is to tell people how much they’ve screwed up and how the DA is up his ass. He looks like he’s really getting into the role.

The second half of the film has Russell Richardson as William Learner, a member of the force who takes on the task of investigating Thornton and his role in the killing. Why? Because he’s a boy scout rookie who thinks any rule-breaking must be punished to the full extent of the law. The big problem is that Richardson isn’t a cop. He doesn’t do things by the book, but not in a way that you can get away with. He repeatedly screws up his investigation and gets sidelined by Thornton, Hickey, and a couple other cops.

Richardson also has the little problem of Moran being a cop who died in the line of duty. Investigating a man who for all intent and purpose is considered a hero isn’t making him any friends in the precinct, least of all Hickey. It’s interesting that the film follows him through the second half since he’s clearly not the protagonist, but you know he’s eventually going to get his mark. It’d be like if half of Luther was us watching Idris Elba be investigated.

Honestly this movie wasn’t half bad. It’s full of schlocky cop talk and just about every detective stereotype in the book, and it’s exactly what I’d expect out of a c-tier Tubi film. Also it’s less than 90 minutes long so it didn’t outstay its welcome. Also Mel Gibson seemed like he kinda cared, maybe he just really liked doing the voice.

Rating: C+