Dvd
The Informant!
A true story becomes a comedy-thriller in the hands of director Steven Soderbergh. Matt Damon plays Mark Whitacre, an Ivy League Ph.D. who was an executive at agri-business giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in Illinois in the early 1990s.
Whitacre agreed to go undercover to help the FBI confirm price-fixing accusations but eventually cracked from the pressure. After working undercover for years, he became extremely manic, stopped sleeping during most nights, and was seen using a gas leaf blower on his driveway during a thunderstorm at three o'clock in the morning.
New Zealander Melanie Lynskey plays Whitacre's wife.
Starring Matt Damon, Frank Welker, Melanie Lynskey, Scott Bakula, Patton Oswalt, Tony Hale, Joel McHale
Directed by Steven Soderbergh ('Che', 'Ocean's 11', 'Solaris', 'Traffic', 'Erin Brockovich')
Written by Scott Z. Burns [based on the book by Kurt Eichenwald]
Thriller, Crime, Comedy, Adaptation | 1hr 48mins | Rated (M) | contains offensive language | Origin: USA | NZ Distributor: Roadshow | Official Site »
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The Talk
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Flicks review
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3
Matt Damon is terrific here, poles apart from his turn as amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne. As Mark Whitacre, a scientist turned businessman at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland, he’s podgy with a ‘tache and bouffant hair. We watch the character gleefully entangle himself in a self-spearheaded FBI investigation into his own company’s price-fixing conspiracy, barely suppressing enthusiasm as he blusters his way through a drab, depressing corporate landscape, full of venetian blinds and boxy computer monitors.
The production design is perfect, transporting us straight back to 1992 (which in this stagnant area of America still means late ‘80s). The supporting cast is strong, ranging from Scott Bakula as a compassionate yet beleaguered federal agent, and Kiwi Melanie Lynskey as a sweet yet helpless wife (visually, straight out of those faded family portraits with the marble-y blue backgrounds).
Unfortunately, the film is less funny than expected. Despite the laboured efforts of the terrible jazzy lounge music on the soundtrack, The Informant is just too dowdy to maintain any decent sense of tension or comedy. It’s ugly, too, with Soderbergh’s camerawork bathed in an unappealing yellow.
The Informant is not quite a hilarious comedy, not quite a tense corporate thriller, not quite an insightful character study. It’s another curiousity tossed off by hot-and-cold director Soderbergh, yet one showcasing Damon at his best.
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The people's reviews
6 reviews
Press Reviews
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Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
As Soderbergh lovingly peels away veil after veil of deception, the film develops into an unexpected human comedy. Not that any of the characters are laughing.
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Empire Magazine (UK)
3
It sets out to be less pompous than similar films, which inevitably means it feels less substantial. While amusing rather than hilarious, it ought to establish Matt Damon as a star character actor.
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Hollywood Reporter
The whole film, a comedy about crime and mental illness, seems at war with itself.
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NZ Herald (Francesca Rudkin)
3
Good, lighthearted fun with a great performance by Matt Damon.
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Rolling Stone (USA)
There is devilish fun in this look into 1990s white-collar crime. But the jokes are the kind you choke on.
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San Fransico Chronicle
Matt Damon's old-fashioned, brilliantly calibrated character turn as a corporate schnook-turned-whistle-blower; and Marvin Hamlisch's retro-groovy score. For the movie's first hour or so, the pair of them together make for four-star entertainment. The last half hour, not so much.
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Variety (USA)
Amusingly eccentric rather than outright funny.
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