Review: THE INFORMANT!
Matt Damon was awesome in this movie! This is possibly the best performance of his career. I can only hope that the Academy recognizes it, and nominates him for an oscar because it is much deserved for his role in this film. It was just so funny watching him play this incredibly strange and awkward personality. The character he played is based on a real guy by the name of Mark Whitacre, and he was a really complex human being with a really jacked up personality. But he sure knew what he wanted, or did he?
This movie is a great character piece that is based around this Mark Whitacre character that Matt Damon brilliantly portrays. The story, which is based on a book by the same name, is incredibly interesting and fascinating to watch unfold as the story plays out.
This Whitacre guy had a great career in the company he was working for, Archer Daniels Midland, which was a huge agriculture industry giant. Everything was going so well for him, but for some reason he joins up with the FBI to expose the unethical business practices that is going on within the company. The problem is Whitacre has a big problem with lying, and his story keeps changing. This frustrates the FBI agents that Whitacre is working with, it also begins to threaten the case that the FBI is trying to build on ADM because it becomes almost impossible for those people involved to to decipher what is real and what is the product of Whitacre’s imagination. We eventually find out what it is that he wanted for the whole thing, but he sure went about it in a very complicated way.
As much as liked this movie, it isn’t for everyone. It may seem boring or dull to some people. The humor is there but it is very subtle, you really have to be involved in the movie, and paying attention to really appreciate the story that is being told. There is stuff that happens in this movie that is so crazy that it must be true! There is a great scene in the film where Whitacre is in a meeting that he is recording. The recorder starts to make a clicking noise, so during the meeting at the conference table that everyone is sitting at he opens up the briefcase that the recorder is in and tries to fix it right then and there.
The Informant! was directed by Stephen Soderbergh would also made Oceans 11,12, and 13. He did a fantastic job telling this story in a very moody yet fun way. He is a very good and solid director so you know the acting and story telling is going to be up to par. The film also stars Scott Bakula and Joel McHale as they two FBI agents, and they are both fantastic in their roles.
I would love to recommend this movie to everybody, but I know not everyone will like it. I guess you just need to give it a chance and then decide for yourself if this is your type of movie or not. If you’ve seen The Informant! tell us what you thought about it.