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Movies / Upcoming / The Informant!
The Informant!

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The Informant! (2009)

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Reviews Counted:145

Fresh:111

Rotten:34

Average Rating:6.9/10

Consensus: A charismatic turn by star Matt Damon and a consistently ironic tone boost this quietly funny satire about a corporate whistle-blower.

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: What was Mark Whitacre thinking? A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Whitacre (Matt Damon) suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company's... What was Mark Whitacre thinking? A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Whitacre (Matt Damon) suddenly turns whistleblower. 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 frustrates the agents (Scott Bakula and Joel McHale) 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.

Academy Award® winner Matt Damon ("Good Will Hunting," the "Bourne" movies) stars in "The Informant!," based on the true story of the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history. The film also stars Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Melanie Lynskey.

"The Informant!" is directed by Academy Award® winner Steven Soderbergh ("Traffic") from a screenplay by Scott Z. Burns, based on the book The Informant (A True Story), written by Kurt Eichenwald. The film is produced by Gregory Jacobs, Jennifer Fox, Michael Jaffe, Howard Braunstein and Kurt Eichenwald. George Clooney, Jeff Skoll and Michael London served as executive producers, with Michael Polaire co-producing.

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes production designer Doug Meerdink, editor Stephen Mirrione and costume designer Shoshana Rubin. The music is by multiple Oscar® winner and nominee Marvin Hamlisch ("The Sting," "The Way We Were").

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Participant Media and Groundswell Productions, a Section Eight-Jaffe/Braunstein Enterprise, "The Informant!" --© Warner Bros [More]

Starring: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey

Starring: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey, Tony Hale, Thomas F. Wilson, Rick Overton, Tom Papa, Adam Paul, Paul F. Tompkins, Clancy Brown, Patton Oswalt

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriter: Scott Z. Burns
Producer: Gregory Jacobs, Jennifer Fox, Howard Braunstein, Kurt Eichenwald
Composer: Marvin Hamlisch
Studio: Warner Bros.

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for The Informant!

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Confronts us with the inveterate human capacity for self-justification 
 we are all prone to casting ourselves as the hero of our own drama and the victim of our own tragedy.

Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | comment Comment
11/06/09
Steven D. Greydanus
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide

Soderbergh pokes fun at the self-importance of corporate thrillers.

Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
11/04/09
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Soderbergh knocks one out again. Jazzy, subtle and fearlessly funny, it's a towering film packed with tall tales that isn't entirely capricious. Matt Damon is wonderfully schlubby in this corporate spin on "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty."

Full Review Source: Suite101.com | comment Comment
10/26/09
Nick Rogers
Nick Rogers
Suite101.com

A movie finding "edgy" comedy about a man suffering from bipolar disorder? What's next? A dark comedy about cancer of the pancreas?

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
10/17/09
Louis Proyect
Louis Proyect
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Soderbergh cria, aqui, algo que poderíamos encarar como uma versão de O Informante caso esta fosse dirigida por Blake Edwards e trouxesse Peter Sellers no papel interpretado por Russell Crowe.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
10/16/09
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Matt Damon is delightfully goofy as an agri-business whistleblower, but the mostly true story lacks the drama or wit to keep us more than just amuse.

Full Review Source: Spectrum (St. George, Utah) | comment Comment
10/11/09
Bruce Bennett
Bruce Bennett
Spectrum (St. George, Utah)

tweaks the story just into the realm of dark humor, but without ever losing the sense that it is fundamentally a tragedy

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
10/10/09
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

While The Informant! has a lot going for it stylistically, the entertainment value is sorely lacking.

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
10/09/09
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

Despite the possibility of savage humor, Soderbergh has gone for a more amiable approach; the result doesn't have many big belly laughs, but its droll tone is consistently amusing.

Full Review Source: Brand X | comment Comment
10/08/09
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Brand X

The jaundiced color scheme -- evocative of the corn starch that is the company's prime product -- and Damon's increasingly disturbing calmness and seemingly irrelevant narration suggest this is a movie about societal as well as personal sickness.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
10/06/09
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Damon is an agile comic performer, and Soderbergh knows how to serve him up without losing sight of the ultimate seriousness behind it all.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
10/02/09
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor

scintillating and sly, but never self-congratulatory. It's agenda is of a higher nature, one that gently prods us into realizing that reality is a fluid thing

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment 1 Comment
10/02/09
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

Beneath the feathered toupee, that disturbingly fuzzy mustache, and 30 pounds of listless, desk-job body fat lies Matt Damon, giving an outstanding comedic performance.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Weekly | comment Comment
10/02/09
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Charlotte Weekly

Is Whitacre as smart as he seems to be, or is he as dumb as he seems to be? One thing's for sure, nobody knows what this guy is going to pull next.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
10/01/09
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

In Steven Soderbergh's hands and with some very strange stylistic choices the story becomes muddled and more confusing than necessary.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
09/30/09
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

It may be slow at times and structured sort of oddly, but The Informant! is one of the year's true originals, and Soderbergh's best film since the first Ocean's

Full Review Source: The Trend | comment Comment
09/28/09
Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver
The Trend

A comedic, tragic look at a man alone.

Full Review Source: Illinois Times | comment Comment
09/27/09
Charles Koplinski
Charles Koplinski
Illinois Times

Lies upon lies pile up in 'The Informant,' a real-life story about a man whose web of deceit spins out of control.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
09/26/09
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

Matt Damon gives it all he's got but the movie still isn't the entertainment event you wish it could be.

Full Review Source: jackiekcooper.com | comment Comment
09/26/09
Jackie K. Cooper
Jackie K. Cooper
jackiekcooper.com

Director Steven Soderbergh's latest turns anti-capitalist fare into commercial entertainment, crafting a studio charmer cut loosely from the mold of his Ocean's movies while recontextualizing residual ideas he previously explored in his independent, two-p

Full Review Source: BitterLawyer.com | comment Comment
09/26/09
Todd Gilchrist
Todd Gilchrist
BitterLawyer.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Informant!

September 18, 2009: Scott Bakula Talks The Informant! Opens in new window
He's currently in "The Informant!" but Collider had plenty of other stuff to ask Scott Bakula about during their interview -- including, of course, his stint on "Quantum Leap." More...

September 17, 2009: Critics Consensus: Jennifer's Body Is Hot, But The Movie Isn't
This week at the movies, we've got a possessed student body (Jennifer's Body, starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried); an oddball snitch (The Informant!, starring Matt Damon and... More...

September 09, 2009: click for trailer and preview Opens in new window
More...

July 12, 2009: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

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