The Informers really is an unusual kind of terrible, but there is actually a very real possibility that it is a misunderstood work of unparalleled directorial ingenuity. The off-kilter overdubbing, the soft focus camerawork, the trite youth-gone-wild... (read more) The Informers really is an unusual kind of terrible, but there is actually a very real possibility that it is a misunderstood work of unparalleled directorial ingenuity. The off-kilter overdubbing, the soft focus camerawork, the trite youth-gone-wild bullshit dialogue, the nihilistic soft-core group sex - its all exactly like a DTV Zalman King production, and nothing quite sums up the rank, dilapidated sleaziness of the early 1980s than a DTV Zalman King. If Gregor Jordan's career ends up warranting serious critical reappraisals in the future, then this is going to be the gleaming, once-misinterpreted jewel in some chancer's festival retrospective.

But from here, its just appalling. The good actors involved are coasting (Billy Bob Thornton in particular looks as if he's performing from the vantage point of a prozac coma) and the bad actors are left to use their questionable skills to turn every other scene into full-tilt soap opera. The screenplay (co-authored, surprisingly, by Brett Easton Ellis himself) is completely unaware of itself, and so tiresomely arch and condescending that it feels, again, like a product of the 1980's rather than some kind of commentary of it.

Reeling off a plot synopsis would be beyond pointless, as it consists of little more than a bunch of unconnected, uninteresting things happening to some deeply unlikeable people. Everyone appears to be operating under the assumption that this is a satire, but the funniest thing about it is the sheer inappropriateness of the supposedly suckerpunch coda. No prizes.

American Psycho aside, if you want a to see Ellis' rather one-note universe rendered shrewdly onscreen, you should really check out Roger Avary's severely underrated Rules Of Attraction.

Eh, wasn't a fan. The film basically explores the excess of 1980's LA with a narrative that connects all the characters to each other in some way. The real strange part was the Rourke/Renfro storyline. Besides maybe Renfro wanting to be one of the pr... (read more) Eh, wasn't a fan. The film basically explores the excess of 1980's LA with a narrative that connects all the characters to each other in some way. The real strange part was the Rourke/Renfro storyline. Besides maybe Renfro wanting to be one of the privileged, it was completely irrelevant in regards to the other stories. The problem with these films is that the characters are hard to get into because they are shallow and non-existent in their humanity, but then again that's the point the movie is trying to make. Just underwhelmed really.

wth is this movie about anyway?

What was the point again?

Bret Easton Elllis adapting his own stories for screen was not such a good idea after all. The movie attempts to recreate the blankness of the fiction but never gets to the point when we care or bother to ask why we actually don't care for these char... (read more) Bret Easton Elllis adapting his own stories for screen was not such a good idea after all. The movie attempts to recreate the blankness of the fiction but never gets to the point when we care or bother to ask why we actually don't care for these characters. There are some good-looking people having lots of empty sex here. Good for them - at least they can escape boredom for a brief moment. People watching this movie can't.

Bret Easton Ellis pens a mean tale, in all adjectival senses. His prose is artfully maleficent; he is a laid-back Severus Snape of the sex-and-drugs generation. You need a smarter directing hand, though, than Gregor Jordan's.

There seems to be no point to this derivative Bret Easton Ellis retro-wallow. It's all sex, drugs, rock 'n roll and boredom - with the emphasis on boredom.

The performances run the gamut from twitchy to catatonic, and the stoned stiffness of the actors seems to have less to do with the affectlessness of the characters than with their own confusion.

Has an air of detachment and sadness, enhanced by the movie's being set a full quarter century ago. Like new cars in an old movie, these people may glow with youth, but we watch them in full awareness of the beaters and wrecks they'll become.

The movie has more dead scenes than a Monday night in Magnitogorsk.