The Informers (2008)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Gregor Jordan

Writers (WGA):

Bret Easton Ellis (screenplay) &
Nicholas Jarecki (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 June 2009 (Israel)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Greed is good. Sex is easy. Youth is forever.

Plot:

A multi-strand narrative set in early 1980's Los Angeles, centered on an array of characters who represent both the top of the heap (a Hollywood dream merchant, a dissolute rock star, an aging newscaster) and the bottom (a voyeuristic doorman, an amoral ex-con). Connecting the intertwining strands are a group of beautiful, blonde young men and women who sleep all day and party all night, doing drugs -- and one another --with abandon, never realizing that they are dancing on the edge of a volcano.

Plot Keywords:

Drug | Party | Sex | 1980s | Doorman

Cast

Jon Foster	...	Graham Sloan
Austin Nichols	...	Martin
Amber Heard	...	Christie
Lou Taylor Pucci	...	Tim
Aaron Himelstein	...	Raymond
Mel Raido	...	Bryan Metro
Rhys Ifans	...	Roger
Germán Tripel	...	Bryan's Guitarist (as German Tripel)
Billy Bob Thornton	...	William Sloan
Kim Basinger	...	Laura Sloan
Winona Ryder	...	Cheryl Moore
Brad Renfro	...	Jack
Suzanne Ford	...	Bruce's Mother
Cameron Goodman	...	Susan Sloan
Mickey Rourke	...	Peter

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, drug use, pervasive language and some disturbing images.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44674) | Finland:K-15 | Ireland:16 | UK:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

Senator Entertainment Co

Trivia:

Co-writer Nicholas Jarecki was going to direct, but the producers opted for a more experienced director and hired Gregor Jordan.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: At the start of the movie there is a segment of sped-up-traffic, in one view of an intersection a VW New Beetle is clearly visible stopping at the traffic lights. The VW New Beetle was introduced in 1998, long after the events of 1983.

Movie Connections:

References Amadeus (1984)

this movie absolutely sucks

OK, with the decent cast that this movie has, there is no reason it should suck this bad. The genres listed are crime, drama, and thriller. But it is none of those. Change the genre of this film to gratuitous sex and social drug use, bad movie with 80's soundtrack, and 90 minute AIDs PSA. They are much more accurate.

crime - 1/10. There is a bit of small time drug dealing and a kidnapping that has absolutely nothing to do with the (nonexistent) plot in any way.

drama - 1/10. Drama implies that there is a story and character development. This movie has no protagonist, no antagonist, and worst of all, it has no premise. For any movie, one should be able to say one sentence that describes what happens in the movie and that is known as the premise. I doubt that anyone who has seen this movie or worked on the production of it can come up with a valid premise for it.

thriller - 0/10. Thriller is used for movies that have you on the edge of your seat and have you guessing about what twists and turns the main character will see next. As I mentioned before, this movie has no main character and no plot to contain twists and turns. At no point during this movie did I feel worried or even care what happened to any character. This was the complete opposite of thriller. Put this in the UNthriller category beside watching paint dry and bellybutton lint.

I hope I saved anybody else from watching this piece of crap.