The Informant!

source: The Informant!

The Informant! (the exclamation point is part of the title, even though I am very excited about it). A film based on true events. It stars Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, an executive at ADM, one of the world's largest agricultural conglomerates, and in regards of the film, one of the front runners in corn processing technologies. Whitacre lives a good life with his family in Illinois. We being when trouble starts at the plant and an employee is suspected of trading secrets and sabotage. The FBI is brought in to investigate with the help of Whitacre, who is being treated like the company guinea pig. When he and his wife can't stand it, he confesses. The real damage that is going on with the company is with price fixing. Whitacre agrees to assist the FBI after seeing no other way out of it. He becomes an informer. After being somewhat reluctant to proceed, Whitacre goes all out with his new fixation. He records conversations, stages meetings, and collects evidence to build a case with the bureau on ADM. Damon holds nothing back for this role. Aside from the physical changes Damon went through, you can tell just by the simple lines of dialogue that every word is important and that he is trying to speak through the character and not as an actor. His supporting cast does a fantastic job, especially FBI agents Shepard and Herndon played by Scott Bakula and Joel McHale. Damon is surrounded by several faces from comedy from both this era and previous institutions of comedy. Comedians like Tom Papa, Patton Oswalt, Tom and Dick Smothers, and Paul F. Tompkins. Knowing that these people were comedians playing fairly dramatic roles took some of the drama out and made it a little funnier. Papa did an excellent job as one of ADM executives. Where the film really takes off is off screen. The voice overs by Damon's character add so much humor and levity to the story. In between scenes where Whitacre is walking, driving, or any time there is little action to take notice of, we here Whitacre giving some speech about something almost completely irrelevant, but still timely and very amusing. There is truly never a dull moment. Soderbergh does a fantastic job filming here. He uses a great mixture of colors and tones that reek of the 90s, especially in the office buildings and hotels. He captures the right feeling for each scene. As we see that Whitacre is slowly being consumed by the case, we can tell without even being told. Soderbergh is very good at presenting the right mood for a film. It doesn't hurt to have an amazing soundtrack by Marvin Hamlisch, who has done scores for all different types of films like The Sting, Bananas, Ordinary People, and The Spy Who Loved Me. The score is over the top, but so is the story. It fits perfectly with what is going on in the movie. I especially enjoy the scenes of Damon walking through the ADM office. The music is like a combination of a jazz club, game show, and an elevator. I know it's early, but I have high hopes that this one will get recognized by the academy. There isn't anything of major concern that is wrong with the film. Damon for sure should get recognized here. He never gets a ton of praise for his acting, although he is very popular and successful. Here is a breakthrough performance for someone who has already broken through. For Soderbergh, it's just another victory for this incredible filmmaker.

My fiancé and I rarely agree on movies. He loves them/I don't, or vice versa. We both agreed that this movie had potential but was a big loser in the end. A very thin plot that wears out very early on and then just DRAGS on painfully. I'm frankly surprised at the high ratings. You can usually get a sense of how the crowd enjoyed the movie just by listening carefully to people as they walk out of the theatre. From what I overheard, most of the viewers were in sync with what we had thought. Dull. The trailers make it come off as more of a comedy, but it's not. As they often do, they have clearly used every single funny line in the trailer, so by the time that you see it in the movie (if you're still awake), it is old and tired. I realize from the postings and stats that I'm in the minority, but if I can save one person their $12.50, I'd be happy.

A retired federal prosecutor, I saw this movie with a friend who is also an ex-prosecutor and is now in a white collar defense practice. We both loved the film & were hard-pressed to politely contain our laughter. There was so much that we recognized from our former lives. Matt Damon was magnificent and Melanie Lynskey, as his wife, a perfect match. Together they captured the typical white collar offender & his family--people who, when caught, are in total denial, blaming their misfortunes on everyone else, lying about the magnitude of their crimes, failing to appreciate that their life has changed forever, regardless of whether they avoid jail or not. Similarly, the FBI agents in film were well-portrayed...like many agents(& many prosecutors, as well), they became a little (actually a lot) too close to their cooperator. Details like having to make critical phone calls from a public phone because your equipment fails & the problems with the making of the videos of the meetings, etc. were hysterical &, again, pretty real. I think most television-informed viewers think that law enforcement is perfect and can do anything. They forget that agents and police are just people like the rest of us, that life does not proceed as we plan it and that people like Mark Whittacre are almost always not "good guys." Rather they are people, often charming ones, who are tone-deaf ethically. And the movie captured what it feels like when you see an important cooperator dive into the tank. The screenplay, music, the cinematography and casting were phenomenal. The film moved along briskly and coherently, engaging us aesthetically as well as emotionally. This movie was one of the best I've seen this year.

I watch a lot of movies and besides "Inglorious Basterds", i would have to say this movie is next in line for best movies in recent months. I love when a movie can surprise you and make you feel different about your life. This is one of those flicks. The narrating is slick and believable.. hilarious at times. The story line has fantastic segways that catch you off guard and make you feel blundered but in complete understanding of the main character. Matt Damon is a great actor and this will probably be his proof for future castings in "not so ordinary" roles. The movie is not as corky as the commercials seem. It gets dark and darker (and funnier) as the movie moves. It's like eating salt and sweets.. a feeling of apathy and love builds for the main character. Reasons to watch = the cynical dialog from Matt Damon pays for the price of your movie ticket itself. Damon owns this movie! You'll see what i mean ;) WTF moment = Casting was a bit blah. (they casted the short loser guy from king of queens to play a lawyer) that was weird. lmao HAVE FUN

Offbeat movie that, with limited success, tries to make light of some serious stuff involving corporate corruption at the highest managerial levels. What makes this even more significant is that the events dramatized in this movie are supposedly based on actual events which, if true, calls into question the reliability of witnesses in criminal investigations who themselves are criminals. Embezzlement and fraud are serious crimes, but when a person committing such serious crimes becomes a star witness for a full-blown government investigation targeting a major international corporation, then this cast a huge, dark shadow over the credibility of criminal investigation itself. This movie is also about to what lengths government officials are willing to believe such unsavory informants even as these informants continue to flagrantly break numerous laws. Matt Damon gives an excellent performance as the main character, Mark Whitacre, a man who on his own initiative feeds the government information while he continues to embezzle huge sums of money. The movie shows how the government almost becomes complicit in Whitacre's's criminal behavior and how it causes an incredible and irreparable amount of damage. Does being an informant absolve one of guilt for crimes committed? Watch the movie and find out.

I am 42 years old and this is only the second time in my life I've ever walked out of the theater before the end of a movie. Incredibly boring! I don't know who's giving all these good reviews because many others in the theater walked out before I did - and I've heard nothing good about the film from "real people" elsewhere. This is not a funny movie, there is absolutely no action, and it's not interesting either. Whatever happens at the end of the movie was not worth the painful effort to get to. I couldn't wait to exit the theater and put and end to the misery. I'm a big Soderbergh fan, but this was a total dud. Believe the bad reviews you read, not the good ones. Don't waste your time or money on this.

What a major disappointment! When I heard Matt Damon and Steven Soderbergh were getting together for a movie, I thought it would be fun, cute, smart and great to watch. Well, at least the visuals were OK. But it wasn't funny (other than one scene where Matt Damon fixes his toupee), or cute. I found the movie rambling, incoherent, and just a major disappointment...basically a bore. The acting was fine, but the characters were not the least bit sympathetic, or engaging. You didn't really care what happened to Damon's character. The only reason we stuck around to watch the end was we kept hoping something big would happen. It didn't. The movie flat lined early, and just doesn't recover. I certainly hope the end product isn't what the creative team were going after. On the other hand, the visuals were fun to watch. I also liked the kitschy, old style music, and the old style titles. I understand Matt Damon wants to stretch himself, and not just keep doing Jason Bourne characters, but he has to do better than this.

I think, but I'm not sure, this was meant to be a sort of comedy, a satirical social commentary. Marvin Hamlisch's music score seems to be underlying that. Well, sorry, didn't work for me. Mostly because Matt Damon goes through it winking at the audience. I couldn't believe in that character at all, not for a minute. On the positive side, Steven Soderbergh and "his cinematographer" understand the ugliness of the story, uglier that funny that's for sure and never betrays that idea. It looks as if shot on video and that helps very much the urge to stay away from this character and his world. Who was Matt Damon's character, really? Frankly my dear I don't give a damn.

If you have tried all the sleep aids they make, heated gallons of warm milk, & still can't catch a few ZZZZZs, this film is for you. If on the other hand, the notion of blasting a ten-buck hole in your wallet for this slop is nightmarish, give The Informant! a WIDE berth. I won't attempt to describe the plot, due to two things: A) After seeing the film only 24 hours ago, I can't recall anything salient & B) Oh, yeah! There isn't one! Matt Damon & his side-swept pompadour are mind-numbingly boring, or is that the script? Direction? It's hard to tell who's to blame, but by the end, who cared if it was a true story or not? Either way, it's ridiculously convoluted, an hour too long & DULLER than DIRT!