#181: The Informers

The Informers is a medley of interconnected stories set in the city of Los Angeles in 1983. The characters include a middle-aged couple moving back in together, their teenage children, a rock singer, a hotel concierge and a father and a son who are on a trip to Hawaai. The Informers was written by Brett Easton Ellis and Nicolas Jarecki and directed by Gregor Jordan.

I had read once in a Syd Field book that writers always have to be conscious of the number of characters that are introduced in a movie. In the case of The Informers, the writers chose to ignore that rule completely and it is the audiences who suffer during its 94 minute duration. Incidentally, the movie had a cast that would've made any director jump for joy but rarely is such talent wasted so effortlessly. Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Billy Bob Thornton, Winona Ryder are all solid names on the movie's poster that actually made me pick up the movie but unfortunately there's very little each has to do in their respective roles. In fact, I found it intriguing that these actors went even along with this script. More than a couple of storylines in The Informers could've been avoided altogether and even then I think the movie might have only just become watchable.

The characters in The Informers were too self-absorbed to make any connect with its audiences. Not to mention the stories themselves, none of which made you look forward to what their ending might be. The only one thing that impressed in The Informers was the soundtrack by the seasoned Christopher Young. For often, it was the music that kept giving you a sense of something about to happen. That eventually nothing did was the script's failing.

It is nice to be have a multi-strand narrative and make it really dark and snappy. But it takes real craft and genuine skill to make it work and to make it memorable like Snatch. In the case of The Informers, it is as forgetful as it can get.

Rating: 2.6/10