Movie Review - The Informant!

Being one of the buzzier films shown in Toronto that I missed during TIFF I was excited about catching the latest Steven Sodebergh (Ocean's 11, 12, 13, Solaris, Che Part One & Two) directorial effort yesterday. The trailer made it clear that Matt Damon was on top form and I was intrigued at the casting of Scott Bakula and Joel McHale in high profile roles.

The Informant! is based on a true story about Mark Whitacre, played by Matt Damon, who had worked for a lysine developing company ADM for years and ended up becoming an unwilling informant against the illegal price-fixing activities of his company on behalf of the FBI. Whitacre starts to believe his own story that he really has become an agent for the FBI (even calling himself agent 0014 as he is twice as smart as 007!). However as the story progresses it becomes clear that what initially came across as his quirky character was actually the first signs of a more serious mental condition and as that worsened so did his lies which eventually led to his undoing.

The film was set during the nineties from 1992 through to 2002 and Sodebergh did a great job of getting the look and feel of the era just right. Damon in particular came to the part with an extra 30lbs to portray the sedentary corporate executive and it was his work that was the real pleasure of the film. It was a nuanced performance that tracked the deterioration of Whitacre's situation perfectly and even when he wasn't the focus of the scene he still managed to attract the audience's attention.

The supporting cast was solid enough with two standouts which were also two of the most unlikely casting choices I have seen in a major motion picture for some time. Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap, Star Trek: Enterprise) and Joel McHale (Community, The Soup) play FBI agents trying to make the case against ADM's price fixing activities with Whitacre. Bakula in particular deserves praise for his portrayal as a classic 'by the book' FBI agent becoming more and more frustrated by Whiteacre's antics and loosening grip on reality. I hope this film serves as a reboot to his acting career which in my view has been often unfairly criticised.

The Informant! was an interesting film but disappointingly it didn't keep my attention in the way I expected it to. Like most movies based on true stories you spend some amount of time amazed that all of what you are watching actually happened in real life. However maybe I am just too cynical but a story about corporate price fixing on a global scale wasn't that much of a revelation to me. Again Matt Damon's portrayal of one man's career and personal collapse due to greed was a pleasure to watch but that just wasn't enough for the film to feel as satisfying as I had expected.

Rating: ***

Movie Review - The Informant!