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This
bizarre white-collar tale (based on real events) follows Damon as Mark
Whitacre, a rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland
(ADM), who randomly turns FBI whistle blower. The thing is, even as he
exposes his company's multi-national price-fixing conspiracy to the
FBI, Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the common
man and handed a promotion.
But before all that can happen,
the FBI needs evidence, so Whitacre eagerly agrees to wear a wire and
carry a hidden tape recorder in his briefcase, imagining himself as a
kind of de facto secret agent.
Unfortunately for the FBI, their
lead witness hasn't been quite so forthcoming about helping himself to
the corporate coffers. Whitacre's ever-changing account (in short, the
guy is a serial liar) frustrates the agents and threatens the case
against ADM as it becomes almost impossible to decipher what is real
and what is the product of Whitacre's active imagination.
While The Informant!
initially sets itself up as a fairly serious corporate whistle blower
piece, Soderbergh is quick to pull the rug from under the audience,
with the film diverting into a humorous (almost Wed
Anderson-esque) world of oddities.
The audience never quite gets ahead of
the plot, a real strength, as Damon slowly but surely unravels the truly
complex and warped mind of Whitacre.
An excellent supporting cast, including Quantum Leap's Scott Bakula, helps keep things chugging along and ensuring that the audience never quite knows whether The Informant! is a movie, a TV sitcom, a dream or some kind of badly acted amateur theatre production.
In a word : Odd. DVD Special Features
The movie really didn't set the world on fire, either
in the awards stakes or the box office, taking in just over $33M
worldwide (a far cry from the success of Damon's previous efforts).
Therefore,
there isn't much on offer by way of Special Features - which is
actually quite upsetting. Considering the whole book-to-film theme
could have been explored, along with an actual documentary on the REAL
Whitacre, a few special features could have gone a long way to make The Informant! a worthwhile purchase.
As it stands, it's a wait for cable tv flick at best. Conclusion:
Movie 55% Extras: 20%
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