Greed is good. Sex is easy. Youth is forever.

It seems the untimely death of young Brad Renfro brought one good thing. The actor, who starred in Sleepers and Larry Clark’s Bully, reminded us of the imminent release of The Informers.



Together with Winona Ryder, Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger, Renfro had just finished shooting the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ book, which is set in a decadent 1980’s Los Angeles. This is not the first Ellis book to be made into a film, but maybe the most challenging one since it consists of several short stories, one for each chapter of the book. Less Than Zero, the fairly recent Rules of Attraction and his ‘blockbuster’ American Psycho were all easier to adopt because of their narrative. Published in 1995, The Informers is one of his more obscure readings, nonetheless an excellent insight to the fundamentally disturbed world of Bret Easton Ellis.



We get to follow rock stars, vampires and actors as they desperately chase sex, drugs and violence through an angst ridden and burning city. Renfro, who died at the tender age of 25 (one year older than he’s hero James Dean), had the good grace to complete filming before dying from his alcohol and drug abuse. The film is set for a 2008 release - keep your eyes open!

(Renfro Guardian obituary: http://film.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/0,,2242752,00.html)