Who is Brandon Darby? Is he the well-loved activist who helped many reclaim their lives in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina or a narcissist who betrayed the very people he worked with side by side? Unfortunately after watching "Informant," you're left with more questions than answers.
"Informant" tells the story of Darby and documents his rise and fall within the activist community. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans hard, Darby, fearing for the safety of a friend, headed out from his home in Austin, Texas, with fellow activist Scott Crow to lend a hand.
Once there, the duo witnessed the many injustices that were happening and formed the Common Ground Collective, which provided food, supplies and assistance for the community. Darby's charisma quickly brought people in to fight the good fight, but for as many people loved him, an equal amount loathed him.
His actions and words worried local law enforcement agencies. They worried he was there to do more harm than good, but his actions quickly won them over. The people who worked alongside him in New Orleans sang his praises and loved him for his hard-edged attitude toward the government.
That is, until they learned who Brandon Darby really was.
The aggressive activist they once knew traded in his community organizer hat to become an FBI informant during the 2008 Republican National Convention. He infiltrated radical groups and gave info about their actions and plans, which resulted in the arrest of two individuals who made Molotov cocktails. That arrest led to Darby being outed as an informant.
The same people who, earlier in the documentary, spoke about Darby with smiles now spit fire at the man who crossed the line and stared back at them.
The man whose leftist tendencies caused such great concern for the establishment has now become a darling of the Tea Party circuit and a big time voice for conservative activism. Seriously, no kidding, folks.
The story of Brandon Darby is an intriguing one, but "Informant" doesn't present that in any way, shape or form. If you read Darby's Wikipedia page, you've essentially watched the documentary, and that's a shame.
Director/writer Jamie Meitzer tackles a dangerous subject with an explosive personality at its center but plays it safe. There are no earth-shaking moments that shed more light on Darby's reversal, and the doc suffers from that lack of punch.
That being said, I did like the fact you never get to know who Darby really is. I believe the image of who he is today will fade, the mask will fall and we'll see an entirely new personae when the opportunity presents itself. Articles label Darby as a chameleon, and that's a spot-on comparison.
"Informant" will bring a complex story to new people, but with no new revelations, it plays more like a college term paper than a hard-hitting documentary.
3 Yaps.