The Informers

A 1980s movie producer (Billy Bob Thornton) pretends to want a reconciliation with his estranged wife (Kim Basinger), even while resuming his pursuit of the mistress he recently dumped (Winona Ryder). Other characters in the script by Bret Easton Ellis and Nicholas Jarecki (from Ellis’ novel) are the couple’s grown son (Jon Foster), a dissolute rock star (Mel Raido), an apartment concierge (Brad Renfro) and his lowlife uncle (Mickey Rourke), and others. Too damn many others, in fact; the story is a dreary, loosely connected parade of drug-, drink- and sex-sodden lost souls. Performances are pretty good (especially Basinger, and Chris Isaak as a clueless dad trying to connect with the son who despises him), but the characters and story are too tawdry to resonate. Gregor Jordan’s slack direction doesn’t help.