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The Informers (2009)

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Average Rating: 3.6/10
Reviews Counted: 104
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 90

As miserable and insipid as its protagonists, The Informers fails to provide anything to think about after the sheen of fake blond is gone.

Average Rating: 3/10
Critic Reviews: 26
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 24

As miserable and insipid as its protagonists, The Informers fails to provide anything to think about after the sheen of fake blond is gone.

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Average Rating: 2.3/5
User Ratings: 17,875

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Movie Info

A collection of Bret Easton Ellis' short stories are adapted for the screen by Ellis and Nicholas Jarecki and helmed by Gregor Jordan in The Informers, a Senator Entertainment ensemble film featuring Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, and Winona Ryder. The film observes the goings-on during a week in Los Angeles in 1983, with many intersecting characters including a kidnapper, movie executives, rock stars, and other freewheeling, morally loose individuals. Austin Nichols, Jon Foster, and Amber Heard co-star. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

R, 1 hr. 38 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Directed By: Gregor Jordan

Written By: Bret Easton Ellis, Nicholas Jarecki

In Theaters: Apr 24, 2009 Limited

On DVD: Aug 25, 2009

Senator International

Rating less than zero on the sophistication scale, The Informers is thus a totally faithful adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel--and an accurate look at early '80s-era Los Angeles.

September 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comments (2)

Rob Nelson

Variety

Top Critic

This just felt like a bunch of people in 1980s L.A. with blonde streaks in their hair listening to Wang Chung.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies

| Comment

Ben Mankiewicz

At the Movies

Top Critic

Gorgeous people and some well written dialogue aren't enough to make this a movie you should see.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies

| Comment

Ben Lyons

At the Movies

Top Critic

It's by far the most slack, ho-hum movie ever made from Ellis' material.

April 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly

| Comment

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Top Critic

The Informers is a movie so seamy it makes you want to take a bath afterward. Rarely has so much sin seemed so boring.

April 24, 2009 Full Review Source: New York Post

| Comment

Lou Lumenick

New York Post

Top Critic

This one's a certifiable soul-sucker, dining out on its characters' venalities while wagging a finger at the horror, the horror.

April 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune

| Comment

Michael Phillips

Chicago Tribune

Top Critic

Heaven protect us from any more Bret Easton Ellis versions of Tales of the Empty Lives of Los Angeles.

August 18, 2011 Full Review Source: East Bay Express

| Comment

Kelly Vance

East Bay Express

Brad Renfro in his last movie role, playing a wannabe film actor who sprays out filthy perspiration like a collie emerging from a sewer. It's possible this role killed Renfro.

July 5, 2011 Full Review Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser

| Comment

Burl Burlingame

Honolulu Star-Advertiser Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Imagine American Psycho with less violence but more nudity, transplanted from New York to California and stripped of all self-awareness. That's The Informers.

August 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Washington Times

| Comment

Sonny Bunch

Washington Times Source: Washington Times

It's hard to say who was most at fault for the film's failure. (Blu-ray Edition)

August 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

...a ninety-eight-minute snooze-fest.

August 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

In the buff naughty boobs 'n buns bad parenting sex and drug addiction romp. And a weird cry for help cinema probing wasted LA youth without adult supervision in sight. Though with sly hints on where all those hallucinatory Hollywood plots arise.

August 21, 2009 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze

| Comment

Prairie Miller

NewsBlaze

bleak, boring and bloated.

August 10, 2009 Full Review Source: CNNRadio

| Comment

Paul Chambers

CNNRadio

It has a good cast and a terrific 1980s soundtrack (Devo, Simple Minds), but it also has the superficiality of a TV soap. The Informers is not so bad that you can't sit back and enjoy it, but nor is it good enough to go and see.

July 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Times [UK]

| Comment

Cosmo Landesman

Times [UK]

In structure and location the film resembles Robert Altman's Short Cuts, though it's much inferior and far less interesting.

July 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Observer [UK]

| Comment

Philip French

Observer [UK]

While it's an occasionally unsettling piece - and comes with a big-name cast - the story never goes anywhere.

July 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK]

| Comment

David Edwards

Daily Mirror [UK]

We may not care about these cokeheads, but only rarely does Jordan fall into knee-jerk retribution.

July 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out

A lurid, soapy, moralistic melodrama so mucky you'll need a shower.

July 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

Directed by Gregor Jordan, Ellis's aimlessly dissolute collection of stories just doesn't hang together as a coherent whole.

July 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Times [UK]

| Comment

Wendy Ide

Times [UK]

There is a weird, almost comic absence of insight and perspective here. But it is a joke without humour and without a punchline.

July 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]

| Comment

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian [UK]

This self-penned adaptation of his 1994 short story collection - a period piece set in 1983 Los Angeles - has supposedly been cut to ribbons, and it shows.

July 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph

| Comment

Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph

Jordan gives all this an entirely appropriate sheen and the cast play well through glazed eyes. The film will fascinate those who love to see the tormented lives of those who seem luckier than the rest of us.

July 17, 2009 Full Review Source: This is London

| Comment

Derek Malcolm

This is London

Failing to work on so many levels, The Informers operates as a time capsule of 1983 and a time when substance was negated in favour of style. Sadly, this movie is severely lacking in both of those departments.

July 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Digital Spy

| Comment

Ben Rawson-Jones

Digital Spy

For diehard Ellis completists only.

July 17, 2009 Comment

Heat Magazine

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Audience Reviews for The Informers

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"The Informers" is not so much a movie as it is a series of uneventful (and unconnected) scenes in which a bunch of unlikeable characters do drugs and have sex. What fun! If I must call it a film, it's the most shallow, dull and annoying one I've seen in ages. I can't beleive that so much acting talent is present in

January 17, 2011

Michael S

Super Reviewer

Interesting. Took a while to get into, and is a little confusing as there are so many characters in it, but works pretty well for a movie made up of a lot of little stories which sort of overlap. The theme is pretty much excess, and the 80's setting works well. There is a lot of sex and nudity, so don't watch if you

May 16, 2009

Nicki Marie

Super Reviewer

The Informers Quotes

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1. William Sloan: Were a family again.
– Submitted by Chris P (12 months ago)
1. Susan Sloan: Nice Shirt.
– Submitted by Chris P (12 months ago)

Character	Quote
	Enter quote here...	Delete

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