Matt Damon gives the best performance of his career so far.
The Informant! (2009)
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Reviews Counted:196
Fresh:151
Rotten:45
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: A charismatic turn by star Matt Damon and a consistently ironic tone boost this quietly funny satire about a corporate whistle-blower.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for language
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:20-11-2009
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
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.
Reviews for The Informant!
It's certainly a novel approach, but it stops the story engaging us either as an espionage thriller or as a comic caper.
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.
It may come across like a self-satisfied madcap bauble, but that titular exclamation mark is the key that unlocks the myriad subtextual delights of Soderbergh’s timely latest.
Powered by a convincing Matt Damon, The Informant! is a quick-on-its feet comedy that never outstays its welcome. If it has a problem, it's that it's neither funny enough nor emotionally resonant to make a truly lasting impact.
Director Stephen Soderbergh and its star Matt Damon have crafted a skittish caper movie, a pyrotechnical display of colourful lies that unravel to a giddy retro score.
Soderbergh has commissioned a relentlessly jazzy, wacky musical score from Hollywood veteran Marvin Hamlisch just so that we realise it's all supposed to be funny.
The Informant! is far from negligible, but it’s undoubtedly second-tier Soderbergh.
It’s easy to forget that Damon is a talented character actor. The Informant! might be too feather-light to bring him the plaudits he deserves, but it’s to his credit that this is one of the most enjoyable films in months.
You go in expecting a jaunty caper. What you get, disconcertingly, is a bleak, rather sad study of an unraveling mind.
A lightweight yet likeable cross between The Insider and Catch Me If You Can.
Although Damon is on brilliantly bumbling form, The Informant! ultimately comes off as Soderbergh’s Burn After Reading – a diversionary lark until he gets back to serious filmmaking.
Only one role is fleshed out, and that’s Damon’s. With walrus ‘tache and a dazzling mix of the naive and the Machiavellian, his is, despite the movie’s lack of flair, one of the year’s stand-out performances.
It's a tough sell, for sure: a not-quite-comedy, not-quite-drama about a long-forgotten crime. But this is a rewarding film: slyly cynical about big business, American justice, and the men who represent both.
Damon makes his character ridiculous in a very convincing way while never for a moment overplaying.
Damon conveys the vulnerability of his character, but the script fails to explore why Whitacre makes the choices he does. He's simply buffoonish.
Quirky and eccentric rather than laugh-out-loud funny, mildly amusing rather than fully involving.
Damon is great. His comic timing as Mark Whitacre, a biochemist turned inept corporate whistleblower, transforms what should have been a dull film into an entertaining one.
Latest News for The Informant!
September 18, 2009:
Scott Bakula Talks The Informant! ![]()
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 ![]()
More...
July 12, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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