There’s something both compelling and ghoulish about The
Informers. Set in the vacant world of ultra-rich Los Angeles circa
1983, we follow an ensemble of desperate, damaged souls swimming in sex
and drugs, going nowhere. With Bret Easton Ellis adapting his own
novel, the film convincingly recreates the sheen of 1980s Hollywood
product, but it’s fatally detached, missing the pathos of Less Than
Zero and laughs of American Psycho. Incidentally, this is
Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke’s first movie together since 9 1/2
Weeks (though they don’t share any scenes) and Brad Renfro’s last
role. It took a while to get to us—he overdosed in January 2008.
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2009.