The Informers Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

The Informers Blu-ray Movie Review

A meandering snapshot of the 1980s arrives on Blu-ray with only a few extras.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 18, 2009

There's no more sun.

How 'bout them Pittsburgh Pirates? They've failed to capture even one single winning season since 1992 and the onset of the curse of Barry Bonds, Sid Bream, and Francisco Cabrera, and they're set to break the all-time North American futility record for consecutive losing seasons. With the 1993 hiring of General Manager Cam Bonifay, followed by the disastrous tenure of Dave Littlefield from 2001-2007 and, now, the wheeling-and-dealing Neal Huntington, the franchise seems, at least in the immediate future, to be no closer to either respectability or contention than it was when Bonifay took the reigns 17 years ago. Nevertheless, fans must give the current regime a bit of leeway; Huntington has been tasked with replenishing a barren minor league system as quickly as possible in hopes that several players will emerge as stars and leaders that will carry the Pirates to the promised land of .500 and, hopefully, beyond. Considering the core players of the past several years -- Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, Nate McLouth, et. al. -- failed to even sniff contention while all playing together at the same time, breaking it up and starting over again seemed the only logical next step in steering the good ship Pittsburgh out of the storm and into calmer seas. Now, the future rests on the shoulders of up-and-comers Andrew McCutchen and Ross Ohlendorf; the newly acquired Tim Alderson and Jose Tabata; the recently drafted Tony Sanchez and Pedro Alvarez; and if the 2009 squad can lose enough games, phenom Bryce Harper.

I hope she's not a Brewers fan...

So, what does a cut-rate, has-been, hopefully-will-be but very likely never-will-be Major League Baseball team have to do with The Informers? Absolutely nothing. That's why it seemed wholly appropriate to open the review with something so completely random as a brief discussion of a baseball team few people care about anymore. The Informers goes nowhere and does nothing during its 98-minute runtime; "meandering" doesn't even begin to describe it. A snapshot into the lives of several people during the early 1980s, The Informers attempts to bring to life a slice of American culture without much in the way of actual success. The film stars Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade) as William Sloan, a man struggling to rebuild his marriage with his frustrated wife Laura (Kim Basinger, Batman), though he cannot rid himself of his obsession over his former lover, television newscaster Cheryl Laine (Winona Ryder, Star Trek). Meanwhile, William's son Graham (Jon Foster) has become disillusioned with his promiscuous girlfriend, Christie (Amber Heard). Peter (Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler) and his nephew Jack (Brad Renfro, Apt Pupil) struggle with personal issues and an odd kidnapping. Also a focal point of the film is Les (Chris Isaak) and his son Tim (Lou Taylor Pucci) who find themselves at odds over Les' womanizing ways, Tim's smoking habit, and their father-son relationship in general. Finally, rocker Bryan Metro (Mel Raido) find it difficult to maintain an affable relationship with his ex-wife and child.

There's something to be said for these sorts of multi-character, shifting-perspective movies; Doug Liman's Go and Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction are two examples of this unique and oftentimes fascinating sub-genre that, when done right, can produce outstanding results. Unfortunately, The Informers seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way. It seems the film wants to show a random slice of life and capture a candid picture of the world inhabited by several seemingly unconnected individuals, but it lacks a sense of purpose and the result is an effort that's generally worse than a bad reality TV show that gets its best moments from characters sitting around discussing something as off-the-wall as Major League Baseball in a Blu-ray review of a movie that makes no mention of the National Pastime. The film is saved only by the presence of several name actors, though they do little to elevate the movie thanks to characters that require of them only to put on their best down-and-out faces. As expected, Billy Bob Thronton is the best of the bunch as a confused individual that can't keep his mind off an ex-flame while trying to rekindle a relationship with his estranged wife. The rest of the performances are appropriately bland and lifeless, each doing well to capture the senselessness of the lives each character leads.

If one were to really reach and stretch and try to grab onto even a shred of purpose behind The Informers, it might be in the film's (intentional or not, probably the former) de-glamorization of the dangerous and immoral acts the characters engage in throughout. There's nothing happy about The Informers; the film thrives on showcasing humanity at low points where every character has a sad story to tell and lives in a world devoid of purpose. Writer Bret Easton Ellis, perhaps best known for American Psycho, again visits the "me first" culture of the 1980s with The Informers. While American Psycho's dark motif was livened up by an oddly lighthearted and engaging atmosphere and a stellar performance by Christian Bale, The Informers enjoys no such reprieve from the doldrums of the world it puts on display. Dark, depressing, and difficult to watch thanks both to the consequences of the lifestyles the characters engage in as well as the film's incredibly sluggish pace and haphazard style that doesn't immediately reveal a purpose either stated or implied, The Informers never gains any traction and does little to engage its audience at any point throughout the movie.

The Informers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Informers arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p transfer framed in its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. This is a fair image, adequate in every regard but never quite outstanding in any one area. It's generally drab, often bathed in shadows, dark grays, blues, and blacks, and with many dark colored backgrounds that reinforce the depressing tone that's evident throughout. Only some of the brightest exterior scenes offer up a reprieve from the doldrums of the image, and these tend to be the best looking moments of the film. Fine detail is solid throughout but won't greatly impress longtime Blu-ray viewers; everything from faces to background objects look fine but this one doesn't stack up to what there is to be seen in The International. Black levels are suitably good, and flesh tones remain a consistently natural shade. The Informers sports a layer of grain that's best described as "light" but with the occasional spike. The print is free of splotches, speckles, hairs, or other obtrusive debris. Though not the absolute finest transfer on Blu-ray, The Informers looks just fine in context.

The Informers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Informers debuts on Blu-ray with a vanilla Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Much like the video presentation, there's no real problem with the soundtrack. It never really does much more than the bare minimum required of it, reproducing a rather mundane audio experience as well as can be expected. A mostly front-heavy outing, The Informers is primarily a dialogue-driven motion picture and the spoken word is delivered crisply and clearly. There's a fairly good sense of atmosphere and space to be found throughout; the subtle chirping of birds in chapter four or crashing waves in chapter sixteen bring the film's varied environments to splendid life. The fairly subdued score is delivered about as well as one might expect, each note playing with a clarity that's pleasing to the ear and befitting the quality listeners have come to expect from Blu-ray. A few sound effects, too, impress, particularly that of a vehicle engine rumbling and working hard at one crucial point in the film. The Informers' lossless soundtrack won't dazzle its listeners but its clear delivery of what is a rather hushed listen serves the movie well enough.

The Informers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Informers limps onto Blu-ray with only two supplements of note. First up is a commentary track with Director Gregor Jordan and Actors Jon Foster and Lou Taylor Pucci. A fairly standard-fare commentary track, the participants speak on how they came to be involved with the project, cutting down the script and eliminating major story lines (including one involving a vampire), shooting locations, the performances of the other actors, the death of actor Brad Renfro, the film's eschewing of formula and convention, and more. Human Intersections: Making 'The Informers' (1080i, 15:26) features cast and crew speaking on several subjects, including Bret Easton Ellis' body of work, translating the novel to the screen, the work of Director Gregor Jordan, the film's themes, its performances, and more. Also included with this Blu-ray release of The Informers is BD-Live functionality and 1080p trailers for Assassination of a High School President, Blood: The Last Vampire, What Doesn't Kill You, Obsessed, and Damages: Season One.

The Informers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Informers plays out like a poor reality television show that hedges its bets on merely pointing the camera at several eclectic individuals and hoping that they do something that someone will want to watch. Unfortunately, there's little here to capture the attention and imaginations of audiences. The Informers strays as far away from "escapist entertainment" as a movie can go and instead plays out as the sort of picture that's sure to kill any good mood that dares enter the theater. Down and depressing movies with a point often make for some of the best films out there; down and depressing movies without a point are just, well, depressing. Sony's Blu-ray release of The Informers isn't bad but it doesn't jump out as an especially great release, either. Boasting a serviceable technical twosome and a couple of scattered extras, The Informers might be worth a rental for anyone that's in the mood for a mood-killing motion picture.