| THE INFORMANT! |
| Written by Sarah Mudgway |
| Sunday, 13 December 2009 12:03 |
 Whoever said politics and comedy don’t mix - obviously hasn’t seen 'The Informant!'. Based on Kurt Eichenwald’s 2000 book ‘The Informant’, the film tells the story of Mark Whitacre (played by Matt Damon), an Ivy League PhD who is a rising star at an agri-business powerhouse in Illinois. That is, a rising star who blurs the boundaries of truth and lies so much that even he isn’t sure what is real anymore. Sounds like the perfect guy to be a key government informant in a global price-fixing investigation, right? When Whitacre, under the influence of his wife (Melanie Lynskey), admits to an FBI agent that executives of his company, himself included, have been meeting with other companies in an effort to illegally price-fix one of the key ingredients in their industry - no-one could have predicted how far Whitacre would, and could stretch the truth. Telling FBI agents Shepard (Scott Bakula) and Herndon (Joel McHale) that he is “the good guy in all this”; it appears for much of the film that he has himself and the world convinced that this is the truth, albeit while cracking under the pressure of being the FBI’s go-to-guy.  Matt Damon is surprisingly refreshing in this film, with a wicked moustache, big hair and thick glasses - to solidify the portrayal of scientist-turned-business-man. Directed by Steven Soderbergh ('Erin Brockovich', 'Ocean’s 11', 'Traffic'), the production and art design of the film is brilliant, transporting us back into the early 90's, which appears more like late 80's in the rural landscape of nowhere, U.S.A..  'The Informant!' isn’t quite a laugh-out-loud fest, nor is it really an intensely dramatic political film, rather sitting somewhere nicely in the middle. The subtlety of the script matched with the brilliant acting from Damon & Co. results in a quirky, dark comedy - which is perfect for a good rainy-day light-hearted watch.  |
