The Informers
Sex, drugs, shoulder pads, Ray-Bans and self-destruction
CAN you capture the shallow, self-absorption of Eighties Los Angeles without making a vacuous film in the process? Apparently not.
The Informers is a dour adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis stories that drifts through the sex, drugs, shoulder pads, Ray-Bans and self-destruction of an era defined by Dynasty, Miami Vice and the “greed is good” mantra of Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko.
Even a top-notch cast can’t overcome the feeling that this has nothing fresh or profound to say about the particular period or what it might have revealed about human nature.
Billy Bob Thornton heads the ensemble cast as film producer William Sloan, a man dallying with TV newscaster Cheryl (Winona Ryder) even as he tries to patch up his failing marriage to pill-popping Laura (Kim Basinger).
The film has a slick surface sheen and evocative soundtrack (Simple Minds, A Flock Of Seagulls, etc) but those are just incidental pleasures in a languid condemnation of soulless excess.
Verdict: 2/5
The Informers
Cert 15; 98 mins