Mickey Rourke hit it big with his moving performance in the 2008 film ‘The Wrestler,’ which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and critical acclaim. His follow-up will be ‘The Informers,’ an adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name.
You’ve heard of Ellis before, even if you don’t think you have. Before Christian Bale donned the bat suit, he won critics over as Patrick Bateman in ‘American Psycho,’ a film adaptation of the Ellis novel by the same name. ‘The Informers’ will be Ellis’ fourth film to be adapted for the big screen. While the films range from critical hits (‘American Psycho’) to guilty pleasure cult favorites (‘The Rules of Attraction’) to downright bad movies (‘Less Than Zero’), all three films and all of Ellis’ novels have one thing in common:’ a satirical and critical analysis of the lives of the filthy, lazy, good-for-nothing rich.
Ellis’ novels, which were first published in the late 1980s and early 1990s, still resonate strongly in the world of literature as an analysis of the fulfillment of American Dream and the listlessness it creates in the people who achieve it. His novels are full of sex, drugs, alcohol and loss of identity among those who have it all. ‘The Rules of Attraction’ begins in the middle of a sentence and ends in the middle of a different sentence, emphasizing the petty, wasted lives of the fictional Camden College’s students in an endless cycle that will not stop.
But this is not ‘The Hills,’ where America’s attention is focused on whether Lauren Conrad’s shoes match her purse. Ellis’ novels are a deeper analysis of the way those who have everything choose to live their lives. They are strong works of literature, not the next ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ to keep America thinking that the distorted Hollywood version of success is something we can all achieve while we face the biggest recession since the Great Depression.
Whether the adaptation of ‘The Informers’ is the next great film to be released or it is turned into just another campy film about the rich and powerful, is it really something America needs to see right now? The rich are corrupt ‘- this is old news. It’s how we got into this economic mess. Wouldn’t America rather see a love story that crests insurmountable odds to bring two Indian orphans together? Or the story of a wrestler down on his luck who fights to return to his glory, regardless of how he gets there?
All you have to do is look at the 2008 Academy Award to see where the American interest really lies. ‘Doubt,’ an adaptation of a play about corruption in a 1960s Bronx, N.Y. church, had nominations in the categories of Best Actress (Meryl Streep), Best Supporting Actress (Amy Adams and Viola Davis), Best Supporting Actor (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Best Adapted Screenplay, yet it did not receive any awards. ‘Revolutionary Road,’ the heralded onscreen reunion of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio about the dissolution of a marriage, was basically shut out from the entire awards ceremony.
But just look at the winners. ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ swept the ceremony, winning both the coveted Best Picture and Best Director awards. Sean Penn won Best Actor for his moving performance as Harvey Milk, the first homosexual person ever to be elected into a government office. ‘Wall-E,’ Pixar’s gem about a robot that crossed the galaxy to deliver hope for the human race, won Best Animated Film. Though Rourke didn’t win for his performance in ‘The Wrestler,’ Sean Penn honored him in his acceptance speech for Rourke’s heralded return.
The big winners of 2008 were the films about hope. Big 2007 winners ‘No Country For Old Men’ and ‘There Will Be Blood’ were the films about corruption and misery, but 2007 was a completely different world than the recession-burdened one we have slid into now. People don’t want more misery to complement the unhappiness that surrounds them in the real world. They don’t want to go to the theatre and see how spoiled, wasted and corrupt the elite are. They want to see Latika in her yellow scarf waiting for Jamal at the train station in ‘Slumdog.’ And they would rather see Rourke make a triumphant comeback as a wrestler than see him as a crime lord on the mean streets of LA.
To quote Harvey Milk, you’ve got to give them hope.
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‘- Terri Schwartz can be reached at [email protected].