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THE INFORMERSMovie Reviews
Ensemble drama set in 1980s Los Angeles balancing an array of characters for whom too much is never enough. Cast:Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Winona Ryder, Jon Foster, Amber Heard, Mickey RourkeDirector:Gregor JordanRelease Date:April 24, 2009DVD Release:August 25, 2009From:Senator EntertainmentRating:RLength:1 hr. 38 min.
The Informers played in national release to poor reviews. • Peter Travers wrote in Rolling Stone, "One of the worst movies of this or any year... a complete misreading of the collection of linked short stories by Bret Easton Ellis... entirely witless." • And Chris Kaltenbach wrote in the Baltimore Sun, "...rather than being perceptive or even informed, it's alternately dull and disingenuous..." More Reviews Below...
The Informers Positive Reviews (32 Reviews, reviews below)
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: WEAK(cg) "...by far the most slack, ho-hum movie ever made from Ellis' material. (I recommend seeking out the underrated 2002 adaptation of 'The Rules of Attraction' instead.)"(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 341 words, 04/24/09
Claudia Puig, USA Today: POOR(cg) "...unbearably tedious... most of the main roles are so thoroughly unlikable that no matter how sensationalized the action is on screen, it all just feels boring."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 487 words, 04/24/09
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (8 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "...you snicker when the movie is trying to be poignant and groan when it aims to make a joke.... The performances run the gamut from twitchy to catatonic..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 720 words, 04/24/09
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: POOR(cg) "Gregor Jordan's pointless adaptation of a Bret Easton Ellis book is successful only in the sense that it accurately mimics the emptiness of its subject."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 138 words, 04/24/09
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...demonstrates the eerie ways that music and movies connect people from vastly different lives in a subterranean way where desire is the common currency."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 772 words, 04/23/09
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: POOR "...conjures up plenty of debauched tableaux with its photogenic, jaded showbiz denizens and hangers-on, but nary a reason for existing."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 225 words, 04/24/09
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: POOR(cg) "This one's a certifiable soul-sucker... The writing is shallow, even for the author of 'Less Than Zero.' This is less than 'Less Than Zero.' "(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 393 words, 04/24/09
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "...set in haute Los Angeles during the early years of the Reagan Era. With its crass, sleek brand of alienation, the movie might have been shot back then as well."(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 422 words, 04/22/09
KEY CITIES (14 Reviews)
John Anderson, Washington Post: POOR(cg) "...a narcissistic, knuckleheaded movie about nihilistic, narcissistic knuckleheads -- which would have made it an interesting exercise in satire, if it had a sense of humor."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 650 words, 04/24/09
Chris Garcia, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: POOR(cg) "...seems to waver between satire, parody, soft porn and domestic soap opera. Maybe I'm confused and didn't realize I just saw the greatest comedy of the year."(See all of Chris Garcia's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 481 words, 05/01/09
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "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."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 611 words, 04/24/09
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: WEAK(cg) "...another tale of Tinseltown drugs, sex and excess has transferred itself to the screen with mind-boggling, laugh-inciting horribleness."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 293 words, 04/24/09
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: POOR(cg) "...goggling at the fauna just isn't enough. The piece had better have something fresh to say. 'The Informers' doesn't, nor does it seem to want to."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 552 words, 04/24/09
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: POOR(cg) "...a news flash from early-'80s L.A. notifying us that greed is bad, sex is dangerous and youth is fleeting.... Been there, done that, been there, done that. Done."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 179 words, 04/24/09
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: POOR(cg) "Ellis' book, though a grim read, had a satirical edge to it that made it darkly enjoyable; the movie is simply dark and dull. And vampireless, more's the pity."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 344 words, 04/24/09
Mike Russell, Portland Oregonian: POOR(cg) "It can leave you feeling kind of empty and sad! It's pretty, icky and boring all at once, and feels like nothing so much as an unusually depressing Ban du Soleil commercial."(See all of Mike Russell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 225 words, 04/24/09
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: MODERATE(cg) "...informs us that Los Angeles is the realm of the beautiful and damned. But to make such a small and stale point about such a large and lively city is, like, totally nowhere."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 339 words, 04/24/09
Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: POOR(cg) "Even the energetic sex is depressing. Enduring this movie makes one wonder why anyone today looks back at the '80s with fondness."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 303 words, 04/23/09
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: WEAK(cg) "...a terrible muddle unless you take it as a satire on the Age of Ellis, the Jacqueline Susann for that Flock of Seagulls era."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 444 words, 04/24/09
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: POOR(cg) "...after more than an hour of proving how pointless and vapid these characters are, it leaves us with a parting shot indicating we should care about what happens to them."(See all of Connie Ogle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 528 words, 04/24/09
Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun: POOR(cg) "...rather than being perceptive or even informed, it's alternately dull and disingenuous, coming across more as a smug 'I told you so' than anything else."(See all of Chris Kaltenbach's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 458 words, 04/24/09
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: WEAK(cg) "Let 'The Informers' be the nail in the coffin of Bret Easton Ellis's dreary lot. Turn the crematorium flames high. Scatter the ashes."(See all of Lisa Kennedy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 402 words, 04/24/09
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (6 Reviews)
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "...set in haute Los Angeles during the early years of the Reagan Era. With its crass, sleek brand of alienation, the movie might have been shot back then as well."(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 422 words, 04/22/09
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: POOR(cg) "One of the worst movies of this or any year... a complete misreading of the collection of linked short stories by Bret Easton Ellis... entirely witless."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 209 words, 04/17/09
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: WEAK(cg) "Easton Ellis pulls it off by matching grotesquerie with banal prose. Gregory Jordan, however, turns the film into 'Crash': without the impact, but equally moralistic and trite."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 154 words, 04/23/09
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "...you snicker when the movie is trying to be poignant and groan when it aims to make a joke.... The performances run the gamut from twitchy to catatonic..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 720 words, 04/24/09
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: POOR "...conjures up plenty of debauched tableaux with its photogenic, jaded showbiz denizens and hangers-on, but nary a reason for existing."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 225 words, 04/24/09
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Rob Nelson, Daily Variety: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a totally faithful adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel -- and an accurate look at early '80s-era Los Angeles.... the film is banal by obvious intent..."(See all of Rob Nelson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 445 words, 02/05/09
Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "...never erotic, rarely witty, its survey of unbridled hedonism seems pointless.... perhaps it was meant as a cautionary tale. But it offers no lessons worth heeding."(See all of Stephen Farber's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 499 words, 01/26/09
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: POOR "...conjures up plenty of debauched tableaux with its photogenic, jaded showbiz denizens and hangers-on, but nary a reason for existing."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 225 words, 04/24/09
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "...you snicker when the movie is trying to be poignant and groan when it aims to make a joke.... The performances run the gamut from twitchy to catatonic..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 720 words, 04/24/09
17.4 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Informers's reviews are separated by an average 17.4 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Informers (32 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Informers's reviews cover 48.4% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 12,375 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 387 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
The Informers Coverage, Volume & Length (32 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 5.1 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Informers's reviews on average broke 5.1 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Informers's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Informers (32 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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