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Sex, Drugs & 1980s LA
Bret Easton Ellis’ The Informers hits theaters
Billy Bob Thornton and Kim Basinger in The Informers
After murdering an investment banker (American Psycho), and chronicling the lives of young, wealthy, drugged-out college students (Less Than Zero and The Rules of Attraction), the wasteland of 1980s LA and its inhabitants is the newest novel-to-film adaptation from writer Bret Easton Ellis.
Robert Altman’s Short Cuts is an easy comparison. The Informers boasts an all-star cast, including Billy Bob Thornton as a studio exec, Kim Basinger as his pool-boy shagging wife, Winona Ryder as a news reporter, Mickey Rourke as a kidnapper, and a posthumous performance from Brad Renfro.
All of the characters’ personal tales intertwine through a haze of cocaine-driven parties, red carpets, and a wake at the Beverly Hilton. The film takes place over the course of one week and is filled with the type of depravity one would find backstage at a Motley Crue concert in 1983. (The Informers does have its own rock star, Bryan Metro.)
The film concentrates partly on class differences. Doormen and convicts are given screen time with the young and blonde partygoers who see the night lights through black Ray Bans. Filmgoers of the 1980s will recognize references to the era. This movie marks the first time Ellis adapts his own screenplay.
The Informers opens April 10.