The Informant!

The Informant

The Informant! - Directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, and Joel McHale - Rated R

I don't have a line or anything for this one, I just liked it a lot.



The Informant!, the latest film from director Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s 11), is a strangely funny take on corporate whistleblower movies like Michael Mann’s The Insider. This isn’t a spoof movie or anything, though. It’s actually based on the true story of Mark Whitacre, a VP of an agri-business company that has been involved in price fixing, who turned FBI informant on his company, ADM, in the early to mid 90’s. Based on that short synopsis alone, the film doesn’t scream comedy. In fact, if you look into the true story (which I wouldn’t advise doing until after you’ve seen the film) you’ll see that the story is somewhat tragic and that Whitacre is more troubled than funny.

For the purposes of the film version of Whitacre’s story, however, he is certainly a more light hearted character. Normally, a film like this would feature tense scenes with shady business leaders and veiled death threats aimed at the informant. Instead, we get a goofy mustachioed Matt Damon, who fantasizes about playing a part in Michael Crichton novels and movies. The evil corporation doesn’t really come off as evil and it’s hard to get behind a story involving the price fixing of lysine (one of those chemicals that we never hear of, but ingest daily). Sure, the fact that companies were setting prices while consumers paid more is upsetting, but the story seems better suited for an episode of “60 Minutes” rather than a feature film. The filmmakers saw a comedy in that story, though, and it’s a good thing they did.

Whitacre goes through his business life and his spy life in a slightly bumbling manner. His thoughts are rambling and sometimes these voiceover thoughts actually drown out conversations in the movie. Every single random thought is quite funny, though. Example: “Polar bears would blend in completely if not for that black nose. I wonder how they figured that out. Maybe looking at other bears, or seeing their reflection? I don’t know. That seems like an awful of thinking for a bear.” To hear a monologue like that in between scenes in which a business executive is secretly recording price fixing meetings is so strange and original that it has to be funny.

As usual with a part like this, the character is only as funny as the actor and Matt Damon is perfect in this. In my opinion, it’s his finest work yet. He is so naïve in his delivery of lines like, “Once this all blows over, I’ll still be okay with the company, right?” and he makes such idiotic and childish faces throughout the film that you get behind him in the story, even when things start to get a little darker in the second half. The title sequence and marketing materials claim “Matt Damon is The Informant!” I can’t think of a better way to sum up how great his performance is in this film.

The supporting cast is impressive as well. Scott Bakula is entertaining as FBI agent Brian Shepard. Joel McHale (of “Talk Soup” fame) is an interesting choice as a fellow FBI agent and while he doesn’t have many funny lines, McHale makes up for it in the disbelieving stares he gives in response to Whitacre’s claims. And look for some interesting cameos from people like Patton Oswalt and the Smothers Brothers.



The comedy is a bit out there and so is the style. Even though Soderbergh sometimes makes mainstream movies that doesn’t mean they are devoid of style. The Informant! is no exception. Think of the Ocean’s trilogy and you’ll have the right idea of the look and sound of the movie. Soderbergh uses soft lighting and colors that give the film an interesting look at times. And the choice of music is quite strange and a bit overbearing at times. I heard someone compare the music to an Austin Powers movie and I have to agree. It’s a weird choice, but the musical cues are funny at times. Aside from the music choice, though, the style does place the film distinctly in the early to mid 90’s. From the clothes to the way the film was shot you get the impression that this story is taking place about fifteen years ago.

If you’re like me, you find stories like The Insider interesting, but they make for boring films. I know that most people consider that film to be a masterpiece, but I thought it dragged along. Apparently Steven Soderbergh shares this opinion because he took a true story with parallels to The Insider and turned it into an entertaining, albeit strange, comedy with an ironic exclamation point in the title. The Informant! could’ve been another boring masterpiece, but with Soderbergh’s direction and Damon’s performance, it ended up being a hilarious movie.

Eric Harris - www.canneltoncritic.com

The Informant!

The humble voiceover has been repeatedly used and abused by generations of filmmakers. It's often the first sign that a script has gone way off the rails, and that the director knows no better way to bring it back on path than to have his characters explain events directly to us.

It's clumsy, overused, and possibly the least cinematic tool in a moviemaker's toolbox.

In The Informant!, however, Steven Soderbergh proves that the voiceover is good for more than just pasting over the cracks. Much of the movie's humor resides in its central character, corporate whistle-blower Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon), and here the voiceovers do more than simply describe events - they take us directly inside Whitacre's brain.

It can be a disconcerting experience. As Whitacre goes about his everyday work his thoughts flit from ruminations on the meaning of life to random observations on the world around him. There's no attempt to force meaning onto events, or to put the pieces of the puzzle together for us - Soderbergh simply embraces the chaos.

And what wonderful chaos it is. Ostensibly following Whitacre as he becomes an FBI informant in the mid-90s, The Informant! explores more than simple corporate wrongdoing as it winds along its path. It places you in Whitacre's (bipolar) shoes, and allows the occasional peek into the fantasy life of a very unusual man.

Of course, it's also remarkably funny along the way. Fans of Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven series will be pleased to note the various visual gags and soundtrack references as Whitacre's story is turned into a 70s spy spoof, complete with international jetsetting and clandestine meetings.

As for the story itself, you'll have to keep reminding yourself that it's based in something resembling fact. Whitacre is such a compulsive liar that his work as an FBI informant soon spirals into other plots and plans of his own devising, until he's spun such a manically dysfunctional web that he can't help getting caught up in his own cleverness.

I'll leave the final decision on whether he's a criminal genius or a lucky idiot up to you.

One thing's for certain, though: there's no doubting which camp Steven Soderbergh falls into. In many ways The Informant! feels like a minor film, but it's still more entertaining than 99% of Hollywood's current output. Criminal genius it is.

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Booze Revooze: A Drinker’s Skewed Review of The Informant!

Final Proof: 2 Shots

You know how when you’re sitting at the bar and you spot a ‘character’? A character, you know, someone who’s not so much drunk as engaging. Weird. Quirky. You’re a little bored so you kinda watch the guy out of your peripheral vision, right? Get an idea of what he’s like, what goes on in his peripheral little life. Except you’re not gonna watch him for two hours, ’cause that’d make you weird.

The Informant! is like that. The movie is an interesting character study of a funny guy and it had my attention for a while, especially because Matt Damon does such a great job in the role of Mark Whitacre. But asking me to watch this guy for 108 minutes is a little much. If i’d been in a bar, i woulda moved on to someone else, certainly someone hotter, rather than become a peripheral stalker.

Buzz Kills (Watch Out for Spoilers)

Sex: 0 Shots

Nothing going here, if it isn’t Melanie Lynskey. ‘Member her? She plays Rose in Two and a Half Men. i like her ’cause she has that little baby voice. Of course, i also like women with raspy voices.  And deep voices. In fact, i even like women with adenoidal voices. i guess i like women’s voices in general. Course, i also like women when they’re not talking. Uhm, let’s just forget i started in on this, ok?

Actually, Melanie’s a lot cuter than you might think. She’s definitely a lot cuter than she was made up to be in this movie.
Here’s what i’m talking about.
  Drinks: 0 Shots

Nada. Matt Damon has a meeting at the Anheuser Busch headquarters in St Louis. Oh yeah, in a private jet he drinks a beer from a bottle while his boss makes sexist remarks sipping a whiskey and water.

Rock & Roll: 0 Shots

One word for you: Marvin Hamlisch. Google him and count the number of heavy metal albums he’s made. (Although, Wiki claims that Jerry Falwell refused to rule out the possibility that Hamlisch was the Antichrist in an interview with Al Franken. That’s kinda rock and roll. Not enough for a shot, though.)

Boring Technical Crap

Written by: Scott Z Burns (based on the book by Kurt  Eichenwald)

Directed by: Stephen Soderbergh

Starring

Matt Damon – Mark Whitacre

Melanie Lynskey – Ginger Whitacre

Bottom Line

Don’t see it, but if you must, then walk out after about 45 minutes–you’ll have seen all there is to see.

Al K Hall<br />
Functional Alcoholic Slurperson<br />
(No, REALLY. Google &amp;quot;Slurperson&amp;quot; if you don't believe me.)

Last updated: 2010-04-04 21:33:45 by user08

The Informant!

Agent 0014 exposes the corn conspiracy!

One Word Review: GOOD

The Informant! is a nostalgic comedy about corporate crime and the “little guy”. Frank Capra made a bushel of these movies in the 1930’s, with high morals and happy endings which critics labeled “Capra-corn”. We have the corn in The Informant! but no Capra, although director Steven Soderbergh tries hard to deliver an update of the little guy against the world saga, made famous by movies like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. These were two fictional Capra-corn classics, but Mr Whitacre Goes to the FBI is true to life and the reality that not all heroes are pure of heart.

The little guy is Mr. Whitacre, a VP for a large agricultural company, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) who decides to follow his conscience and expose the price-fixing scheme carried on by top executives. He records meetings while acting out fantasies of being better than Bond (thus the 0014, twice as smart as 007) and crafty as the Tom Cruise character in The Firm. The first half is comic as Whitacre bumbles through the mechanics of recording meetings and staging hidden cameras but, once we learn more and more about the bipolar character of our undercover spy, his nobility dissolves before our eyes. Matt Damon pulls off the transformation, using the scattered, confused actions to shadow the ultimate deceit which is the bedrock of his portrayal of Whitacre.

It is the lying core of this little guy, as opposed to the goodness deep in Mr. Deeds or Mr. Smith, that updates this character from the 30’s to the present day. He is a whistleblower out for his own gain, wanting to profit from sacrifice, as is the way of the world today. As the FBI agent advises Whitacre early on, “there is only one good choice, to be completely honest”. We used to make movies where advice like that was listened to, but not any more.

The Story

The story begins in the old style of movies, with credits rolling and close-up shots of hands priming a recording briefcase for action. This is the visual metaphor for the movie, the business case holding the record of truth. All the movie events revolve around recordings, as our hero, Mr. Whitacre attends meetings, records conversations and exposes the inside dealings of a major corporation. The first conspiracy concerns a mole sabotaging a plant manufacturing a corn derivative called Lysine but quickly expands to price-fixing between Lysine manufacturers.

The FBI works with Whitacre to collect evidence by recording meetings, finally getting the smoking gun as a room full of executives from several companies agree to control production in order to maintain high prices. Ironically, the ADM executive who arranges the illegal agreement explains it will only work if these manufacturers trust each other. As in all successful enterprises, you need trust among thieves.

Once the FBI moves on ADM, the star witness starts to unravel, revealing his own kick-back payments he has been collecting on the side. He has lived a life of lies, even to his claim of being adopted at age 6. The case survives with several ADM executives going to jail but the biggest jail sentence goes to our “hero” who, it seems, can’t stop lying. In the end, standing before Dick Smothers as the judge, Whitacre apologized for the “ride” he took everyone on and blamed his lack of medication for his actions.

As the movie ends, he emerged from prison with two more degrees, a waiting wife and kids and a lot of peaceful nights sleeping in his cell.

The Genre

The Informant! is billed as a comedy, adapted from the book by journalist Kurt Eichenwald. True stories usually fare well at the movies, especially inspirational biographies like Ray. Corporate tales do not resonate with audiences who spend their days in cubicles working for the 3-letter megacorp. The last thing most white-collar workers want is to go to the movies to see the same thing. With few exceptions, corporate settings for movies have to be comedies or thrillers, taking a story out of workaday life to some exaggerated farce or conspiracy.

This movie has no likeable characters to root for, no interesting settings or business expertise to add glamour and the storyline is morally empty. Every organization and character acts out of self-interest and cynicism, from the Justice Department to the FBI to the executives at ADM. The comedy is understated, mostly verbal narrative with Damon acting the naïve idiot in his role of super agent. One wonders how he could have become a VP if he was such an idiot as a spy.

The Overall Quality

Matt Damon is brilliant in the portrayal of Whitacre as he arcs from doing the right thing to falsifying documents and turning on his few friends in a desperate attempt to deflect blame. His added weight makes him into another Philip Seymour Hoffman. The use of narration to expose his inner thoughts (mostly trivial and disjointed) works both as a source of humor and a hint of his personal demons. It also slides seamlessly into the jokey narration he does “live” when he first starts recording his business dealings.

The performance of Scott Bakula as FBI agent Shepherd reminds one of a Spock-like outsider in Whitacre’s world. His face registers a great, blank look when the unexpected happens, which is often while inside, he’s thinking “this is not logical”. The Smothers brothers play small roles, Tom as the head of ADM and Dick as the judge. Both have aged well, as they command the screen during decisive moments in Whitacre’s life when his role is exposed within the corporation and then during sentencing.

One weak component of the film is the Marvin Hamlisch score, which is too much of a good thing. I found the old-time music irritating after the first half-hour and when the kazoo comes in as the FBI rolls out the charges against ADM, it took me out of the story completely.

The script added several mind maps of Whitacre’s disjointed thoughts, as he jumps from polar bear’s hunting techniques to time-saving tips in the shower to last statements before you die. It is odd the script gives Ginger, Whitacre’s wife a pivotal role in urging him on and then leaves her in the background for the rest of the story, dutifully waiting for her husband to get out of jail.

Movie/Market Analysis

MarketBOB’s sentiment indicators, the GQS (Genre, Quality, Story) make The Informant! a BEAR movie.  The movie is crafted with care and precision, but the story leaves the audience without a hero and a dim view of corporate America and the compromising nature of justice.  The setting and genre are familiar and dull, hardly the escape from reality most people go to the movies to enjoy.

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Last updated: 2010-03-27 17:16:39 by user08

The Informant

The Informant
Starring: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel Mchale, Melanie Lynskey
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Crime
Rated: R

The FBI decides to go after a large agricultural company for price fixing based on the claims made by a high level VP Mark Whitacre.

Mark Whitacre is a highly paid VP with a career on the rise at Archer Daniels Midland an agriculture company whose corn based products are in every prepackaged food product available in the world. Mark goes undercover with the FBI as an informant recording crucial meetings with foreign competitors who illegally participate in price fixing.

The mystery is why did Mark volunteer this information? He is an Ivy League educated PH.D who at times comes off as having the street smarts of a small child. He believes he can take down a company and that they will be thankful to him for doing this because it’s the right thing. Throughout the entire movie Marks inner monologue is voiced over by Damon giving us insight into the nonsense that is in Marks mind and finally by the end the pieces fall into place as to what has led Mark to turn Informant even when the reasoning as to why is not there.

The Informant is entertaining and Soderbergh is able to take some very serious subject matter and turn it into an amusing dark comedy. Damon is stellar as the pudgy Mark Whitacre with a ridiculous moustache and a sweet toupee. (Damon gained over 30 pounds for the role). The issue I have with the movie is first Marvin Hamlisch’s music Is beyond awful Soderbergh tries to use the music to the same effect as his “Oceans” films but with no success, I would rather have an air horn blown into my ears than have to listen to the original music again. Secondly I don’t get what Soderbergh was trying to do by having the movie set in the 90’s yet have sets and cars straight from the 70’s, If this was some hipster attempt at humor it was lost on me. Seeing the hair of FBI agent Brian Shepards (Scott Bakula) was amusing, having them drive around in cars straight out of CHiP’s was just odd and distracting.

The informant is worth seeing for Damon’s fine performance however, Soderbergh needs to reinvent himself, it takes more than a bunch of cameos and Matt Damon to make an enjoyable movie. If it wasn’t based on a true story it would not be believable and wouldn’t be worth your time.

The Informant - ***

Starring:  Matt Damon, Scot Bakula

Review:  This movie turned out to be not quite what I expected.  I expected a comedy with some possible serious elements about a very noble person who decided to take down a company that was unethical in it's practices.  What I got was similar, but not exactly what I was expecting.

The movie centers around Mark Witaker, a bio-chemist for the mega-corporation ADM that was dragged into the business side of the company so he could learn more and grow with the company.  His problem at the start of the movie is the new product he has been working on is not working as planned and it is costing the company money.  Mark decides to make up a lie about a corporate spy in order to get himself out of hot water.  Once that happens, the FBI gets involved and Mark takes this opportunity to inform the FBI about the price fixing that has been going on at ADM for years. 

Whitaker promptly volunteers for this and what ensues is a somewhat comical retelling of his assistance of the the FBI in getting the information needed to take down ADM.  Whitaker wears a wire and narrates even the most mundane tasks and details the who even the most insignificant people are in this story.  This is all done with the actual narration of Whitaker as he is telling the story of what he did.  This gives us insight into this character and what motivates.  He talks about how overpaid people are, about his preference for indoor swimming pools, even where he can get the best deal on 2-for-1 tie specials to wear to work.  All these thoughts come in times of very serious issues arising around this man.  This lets us see how superficial he can be and how much he can get caught up in his own little world.  Whitaker has the ability to justify any situation in his own mind for he never really steps out of his own little world.  This leads to problems that end up getting his self in more trouble than the people he is trying to take down. 

The movie keeps a lighthearted feel to it because you feel the main character thinks of this nothing more than a game.  He even jokes about how he is "agent 0014" because he is twice as good as 007.  He never quite realizes the gravity of the situation he is dealing with and it only goes to make his situation more depressing.  Whitaker slips ever deeper into his own world where all his actions seemingly have no consequences and he is the good guy, the one wearing the "white hat" and everyone else is bad, wrong, evil.  He truly believes this and it is ultimately what is his undoing. 

All in all, the movie is very entertaining and provides great insight into one of the biggest scandals in American history.  Not to mention the writing is crisp and Matt Damon's performance is great as is Scot Bakula's in a supporting role.  Ultimately, worth your time.

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The Informant!

"The Informant" is directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars Matt Damon. It's a combination of drama and comedy and one of those things that proves that making good movies these days is not impossible. Although after some absolutely awful movies this summer, people have good reason to be skeptical...yep...this is indirectly bashing Michael Bay...yet again...

"The Informant" is based on a true story and covers 10 years in the life of Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon). He works at the company in Illinois, Archer Daniels Midland. He has a pretty high position in the company, but becomes a spy for the FBI. He ends up doing fun things like getting wires tapped, traveling to several different countries, and stealing millions of dollars from the company.

Matt Damon proves that he is indeed a great actor. He hasn't done many comedies in his career, but he is extremely capable. He has several funny lines, many of them via narration, which are very effective. His character is more complex then he at first leads on. Damon shows great range with his role; it's a great blend of drama and comic timing. He has chemistry with the rest of the actors in the film including those he works with and those related to the FBI. Although this chemistry isn't necessarily seen with him and his wife, she does love her husband and is pretty supportive. I feel like explaining the main character any further could possibly spoil parts of the movie, since he is the central character.

The script is strong, which is always helpful when watching a movie. It's nice when people actually spend some time writing a good script. There's no sense in spending close to 10 bucks to have your intelligence insulted and leaving the theater annoyed. It's smartly written and is able to ease from drama into comedy pretty effortlessly. For the most part the pacing is good. However, in a couple parts it tends to drag on a little bit.

Cinematography is another strong point. There are several unique camera angles and everything is well-edited together. A broad variety of shots are present as well, which visually adds to the enjoyment of the movie. The look of the movie in terms of lighting and such feels like it's supposed to be the 1970s. The movie starts in 1992. So I'm not sure why it feels like the '70s, but I liked that aspect of it.

The music in the film definitely adds to the comedy at times. It's all done by Marvin Hamlisch, famous stage and film composer. His music feels like a combination of music found in a James Bond movie (he actually did the music in one of them) and a Broadway musical score (to which he is also no stranger.) It fits the tone of the scenes well, though not in the conventional sense. It also serves as a reminder that this is indeed a comedy and not just an intensely serious drama about spying for the FBI and stealing millions.

The movie is well-made and entertaining. Great acting, especially from Matt Damon is present. He makes his character interesting to watch. Drama and comedy mixed together when done right is always a good thing. I think Damon, Soderbergh, and the rest of the cast and crew definitely got it right. 3 out of 4 stars.

The Informant! Not my exclamation point

Much has been made of the low-rent rug perched atop Matt Damon's head in The Informant!, the new flick in which he stars as F.B.I. whistle-blower Mark Whitacre.

What's a gazillion times more interesting is this question: What the freaking heck is going on inside Whitacre's head!?

Is he bipolar? Does he have Attention Deficit Disorder? Is he what we used to call a liar, liar pants on fire?

Expect an amusement park whip of a movie in which you're shot in and out of the dark. 

The Movie Slut was put off by the 1950s look and sound of the movie, which is set in the 1990s. And the music! She thinks it works to hard (like an exclamation point!) to signal audiences that director Steven Soderbergh is worried they might not find this funny, hence the slapstick soundtrack.

The Movie Slut also suggests a serious examination of Whitacre's wife Ginger. Should this movie be titled The Enabler!?

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See you at the movies, The Movie Slut

The Informant!

Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant!” is so hard to nail down. Is it a thriller, comedy, dramedy, whodunnit, or a sad character study? Should I laugh, cry, shake my head, scratch my head, cheer? It was an odd experience leaving the movie theater after the credits had rolled off the screen for this one. Normally I have a pretty clear cut opinion of how I felt about the movie, but Soderbergh took a story that isn’t easily explained and presented it as such - a confusing, muddled mess of a man trying to get out of a situation that he put himself into and lying to everyone along the way. There’s no hope but to be confused and astounded at the end of this. And it’s totally worth it. Matt Damon stars in one of his finest performances as Mark Whitacre, a VP of something or other at ADM – an agricultural giant located in Decatur, IL (2 hours from where I grew up). The movie opens with a narration from Mark (that will continue throughout the rest of the film in stream-of-conscience form) discussing the wonders of corn and the many uses of its byproducts that we, the unwitting public, are completely unaware of because we don’t take the time to read the ingredients on anything. Really, anything. Grab the nearest food product and read the label. Chances are corn is in it somewhere and chances are that ADM had a hand in putting it there. With ADM providing all of these corn necessities and sitting near the front end of the Fortune 500, one would assume they wouldn’t be hurting for money. And they aren’t. But being the typical Corporate America company that they are, they want more. In order to earn more they enter into an elaborate price fixing scheme with other corn producers around the globe and Mark Whitacre finds himself in the middle of the whole thing.
On top of this Mark finds himself with a virus problem running rampant throughout their lysine (another corn byproduct) plant. If he can’t fix it, the company will continue to lose $3 million per month until the problem is solved. He receives a call from one of ADM’s Japanese competitors that informs him he has the cure for the virus and will gladly hand it over for a cool $10 million. Mark, being the good employee that he is, goes straight to his boss and informs him of the situation. The scene that follows seems to be taken straight from “Fargo” and inspired by Jerry Lunderaard’s problem with involving his father-in-law’s friend in his little scheme. In fact, Mark Whitacre and Jerry Lundergaard (William H. Macy) seem like they could be related.
After ADM has informed the FBI of the call that Mark has received, the FBI decides to tap Mark’s home phone line in case he receives any other calls from their mysterious Japanese caller. With some persuading and prodding from his wife (Melanie Lynskey), Mark eventually spills the beans on the price fixing scheme. And we are whisked into a mass of confusion, deception, and hilarity unlike any other movie I have ever seen (with “Fargo” being the exception). By the end of the film we don’t know which end is up. Was Mark telling the truth about anything? Does he even realize what he’s gotten himself and his family into? Is he really the CPO of a company in California now (yes)? What kind of a man would be involved in all of this and think he could get out unscathed? Mark Whitacre was that kind of man. And Soderbergh takes us directly into his mind and searches, I think, for an answer.
Soderbergh is no different from his audience. I think he’s just as befuddled by Whitacre’s actions as we all are. There’s no logical way to explain it and any attempt to do so would be futile. So Soderbergh has sidestepped that problem and given us this film with its off-the-wall narration and its confusing story line and all its twists and turns and has said, “Here. You try to figure it out because I can’t.” With another director we may have been given a thriller that showed Whitacre trying to cover up his actions and there would have been a chase and it would have been all wrong. Or we would have been given a sympathetic look at Whitacre and his possible (more than likely, really) bipolar disorder and reasons why he did what he did and that would have been all wrong. Soderbergh was the perfect choice for a story like this and he gave it to us in all the right ways.
This review is probably as muddled and confusing as the movie, but after seeing it, try explaining it to someone without giving away too many of the surprises and in some sort of logical way. It’s nearly impossible. What I will share, though, is a snippit of Whitacre’s narration which occurs during one of his wiretapping assignments for the FBI. While he’s walking to a meeting with a recording device in his suitcase, 0014 (because he’s twice as smart as 007) isn’t concerned with being caught. He’s concerned about the hunting habits of the polar bear. He muses that polar bears carve out a hole in the ice and wait for seals to pop out, but they can’t simply wait above the hole otherwise the seals would notice their black noses. So polar bears cover their black noses so they blend in to the snowy background and become virtually invisible to the seals. But how did they figure out they have black noses? Did they notice it on other polar bears? Did they see their own reflection and figure it out? That seems like a lot of thinking for a polar bear. If only Whitacre had thought through his plan as much as the polar bear had thought through its. But then again, if he had, Soderbergh couldn’t have made the movie.
 
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 108 minutes
Starring: Matt Damon (Mark Whitacre); Melanie Lynskey (Ginger Whitacre); Scott Bakula (Agent Shepard); Joel McHale (Agent Herndon); Thomas F. Wilson (Mark Cheviron); Rick Overton (Terry Wilson); Tom Papa (Mick Andreas)
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh; written by Scott Z. Burns, based on the book “The Informant (a true story)” by Kurt Eichenwald; produced by Gregory Jacobs, Jennifer Fox, Michael Jaffe, Howard Braunstein, and Kurt Eichenwald. A Warner Bros. Pictures release.

The Informant!

Steven Soderbergh has had an eclectic and rewarding career as a filmmaker and storyteller and he has found another different and quirky story here in "The Informant!" Matt Damon has also had various great roles in his career but this is his most different character and one of his best performances. He has put on a few pounds, put on some nerdy looking glasses and sports a weird head of hair as Mark Whitacre. It is quite different from the Jason Bourne character who was a killing machine. Mark Whitacre is just delusional, a pathological liar and a misguided loser. This is a very light but entertaining movie. This is not one of Soderbergh's deepest films and it isn't supposed to be. This is more along the lines of the Oceans movies with an offbeat sense of humor and great lines of dialogue which is rapid fire. This is an adult movie where the words are what is powerful and effective not actions. This could have been made in the 70's and have been a very good companion piece to some of the wonderfully written comedies of that period. One of the masterstrokes of this movie is the narration of the Whitacre character inside his head. Most of Damon's Oscar caliber performance shows it's greatness during this inner narration as he says things totally outrageous inside is head which in no way relates to what is going on outside his head. Damon really disappears in this role giving us a very strange and delusional man and he is captivating. Soderbergh shoots this like a 70's film and there is great support by Scott Bakula and Joel McHale as FBI agents who don't quite know how to figure Whitacre out. I could have done without the 70's game show music by Marvin Hamlish though. This is a funny and entertaining movie that is light and the best part of it are the performance by Damon and the sharp and funny dialogue. Steven Soderbergh makes this seem effortless and he has given us another winner

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Vincent Snavely

The Informant!

     "The Informant!," starring Matt Damon and directed by Steven Soderbergh, is an odd, little comedy.  A lot of the humor comes from the (seemingly) non-squinter actions of Matt Damon's character, Mark Whitacre, a VP at food giant ADM, who turns FBI informant.  However, unlike the almost endless wave of gross out, mostly improvised, idiotic comedies that stain theater screens these days, (you know the ones, the ones that seem to rely solely on the non-squinter stupidity improvised by the comedians while filming) "The Informant!" is funny not because all of Whitacre's actions are completely unreal, and therefor, unexpected, but because Whitacre's actions are, in fact, based on actual fact, and there are very real reasons motivating him.  This, sadly, is also the downfall of "The Informant!"  Once we are through the first act, laughter gives way to cringing as we wonder how anyone can be that dumb, and once we are in the third act, we just feel sorry for Whitacre, his family, and everyone who ever had anything to do with him.  In the end, "The Informant!" leaves you feeling uncomfortable and wishing you hadn't gone through the trouble of going to the theater.  Soderbergh tries to take as much creative license as possible, but, in the end, the reality of the material is simply too depressing. 
 
     I do have to give Matt Damon credit for doing a great job playing, what turns out to be, a character you only end up feeling pity for, to Scott Bakula, who, likewise, does a great job as FBI Special Agent Brian Shepard, who ends up on the receiving end of Whitacre's problems, and to Steven Soderbergh who does his usual best directing, but, in the end, none of them could really overcome the source material, Mark Whitacre's actual life and actions.

Brian
Ciné Critique Américain

THE INFORMANT! (2009)

BOTTOM LINE: A potentially interesting whistle-blowing premise and some wonderful performances do not make up for the fact that this is a dull and misguided film that is best left for late night television.

THE GOOD: Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) works for ADM, an agricultural company monolith that is in to price-fixing. At the urging of his wife Ginger (Melanie Lynskey), Mark becomes whistleblower and tells the FBI all about ADM’s bad dealings. What appears to be a simple investigation for FBI Agent Sam Shephard (Scott Bakula) and his team becomes a muddled and almost farcical affair as they slowly discover that Mark is actually not telling them the whole truth and he is up to some bad dealings of his own. The premise of the movie is a good one, apparently based on a true story, and allows room for some wonderful performances, starting from the top with Matt Damon who gives a very three-dimensional, and at times farcical take on Mark Whitacre who you can never really figure out; is he bi-polar, a compulsive liar, telling the truth, or some weird combination of all these things? Every time you think you have it figured out, the character and the film seem to give you a proverbial sarcastic wink, suggesting that maybe what you saw was true, but then, maybe it was not. Matt Damon also gives some wonderful voiceover moments as Whitacre as we hear the inner ramblings in his head; his thoughts on polar bears are highly amusing. In this respect, the film can be fun, particularly in the moments when Whitacre describes his embezzlements at the company and the dollar figure he quotes in each subsequent FBI interview keeps going up, and always in an underhanded way. The film plays out almost like a tragedy for the FBI who discover they are in way over their heads when their star witness turns out to be just as bad as the company they are investigating. “The Informant!” has lots of potential as a film.

THE BAD: Unfortunately, there is nothing in this film to recommend it beyond a post-midnight slot on late night television. The film can be slow, unengaging and dull for most of its run time, and that is largely due to the fact that despite the cast’s best efforts, director Soderbergh does not create any narrative sequences that resonate either dramatically or comedically, given the situation presented. “The Informant!” does not make good cinematic viewing.

RATING: 5/10

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Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

The Informant!

Last updated: 2010-01-17 21:32:49 by malikaziz

the informant!

this movie was delightful. i mean, that word is usually used with some sort of strawberry cake. something like, “that strawberry cake was delightful. i wish i could eat it everyday. oh wait i can because i’m a princess.” just like that. but this movie isn’t cake, and has no strawberries in it that i know of.

so where does the delight come from? it mostly comes from matt damon’s head. every now and then the movie will kind of dim out, and you’ll hear his thoughts. and how delicious they are! now you know why it’s delightful.

if it wasn’t for these clever little devices in the film, making it more intriguing, i would have been bored. i don’t feel bad saying that, there wasn’t any action, sex, guns, or kittens. no, it was just filled with middle aged business men, the type which nobody cares about. you see them everyday anyways, cleaning cars, doing your taxes, being your father. the plot wasn’t terrible, it just wasn’t captivating either. picture two women next to each other. one is absolutely beautiful, the other is average. the beautiful one is only there for a few minutes every hour, but the average one is always around. which one are you going to stare at? that’s what matt damon’s head is; the beautiful woman.

i rate this movie 5.4/7. i wish they had of explained a few things with more depth, especially at the end, but i still liked it. it was better than i expected, which doesn’t say much because i had no idea what it was about before i watched it. absolutely none. all i knew was that matt damon was in it, and it may or may not involve an informant. who that informant is, what they may or may not be informing of, i did not know. but now i do, and it was tasty. i’m hungry.

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Last updated: 2010-01-09 01:19:23 by user03

Movie Review: The Informant!

The Informant!
 
, coming from veteran director Steven Soderberg (Ocean’s 11, The Girlfriend Experience, Sex Lies and Videotape), is a film based on a true story about Matt Whitacre (Matt Damon), former ADM vice president turned corporate rat. Need I say more regarding the plot?

Being a film from the hands of Soderberg, a director who seems comfortable occupying the middleground between art house and hollywood, it is only natural that The Informant! is one of those movies that is advertised as mainstream but, to the horror of poor audiences everywhere, is actually borderline art house (gasp, anything but that!). No really, that is a good thing, as The Informant! is naturally one of those nice (and rare) crosses between the two worlds of film.  Yet, unlike Steven Soderberg’s most recent and structurally lacking film The Girlfriend Experience (Which I still liked), The Informant! has enough plot in it to hold interest through the flowing, yet comfortably paced movie. To its benefit, it also lacks the somewhat forced “charm” of the Ocean series – I think charm and “cast” are synonymous in the case of those amusing, yet somewhat soulless films. For unlike Ocean’s 11, 12, or 13, I felt The Informant! to be naturally charming without having George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon all grinning up at us as a perpetual reminder that they are rich, good looking and famous, and were cast for those very bankable reasons.

As for Matt Damon, I’ll start by saying that his “Matt Whitacre rat” is nothing like his “Collin Sulivan rat” of Scorsesse’s The Departed (2006). And in this case, that is a very good thing. It would also be fair to state that he carries this movie in easily one of his best performances, if not his best. He has done us, and himself, a great favor by taking a refreshing step away from the many cold, arguably lifeless parts of the past few years (with the exception of The Departed, in which I felt he was simply playing a more twisted version of his Bostonian self). In The Informant! he manages to be dumbly charming, perhaps due to his non-threatening pudginess (30 pounds less threatening to be exact), and his relatable inner-mind wanderings, which we have access to via voice over narration. He is not the lifeless super soldier of the Bourne movies or the silent drone of “The Good Shepard”. He is, I can finally feel, a human being of the corporate world, whatever evil that might imply. And he does successfully come across as a, perhaps suitabably, remarkably bizarre character, especially when knowing that he is based on someone real. The character Mark Whitacre is well full of strange greed and psychological problems as well as a subtle genius and silly charm.  It is practically one of those characters which would be otherwise unbelievable if not for the fact that he was real.

And that is what makes this movie so funny. It is that tinge of strange, twisted irony hanging over it all throughout, for one always knows that all this utter nonsense actually occurred – which in this case works in the movies favor as it just makes it all the much more ridiculous and funny. But the funniness of The Informant! is not the funniness of comedy per say. It is a disturbing funny. I found myself thinking it very much akin to Coen brother humor. Rather dry, bizarre, and often situationally ironic. Yet, all-in-all rather a disgusting and disheartening portrayal of humanity (at least to me). Sounds something like Coen brothers, right?

The Informant! then is a good film. Good performances all around, an unforced and relevant message, as well as genuinely funny humor. It makes for an entertaining recount of an absurd occurrence, as well as an entertaining movie. This is my favorite Matt Damon movie since The Departed, and among my favorite of Soderberg.

3 and a half out of 4 stars.

Recommendations:

Last updated: 2010-01-02 22:49:54 by user01