THE INFORMANT!
WARNER BROS
RELEASED 20 November 2009
Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) has a rising career at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), and his family enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle. So when he decides to expose his company's multi-national price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI, it’s something of a surprise, because besides wanting to wear a ‘white hat’ rather than a ‘black hat’, Whitacre is certain he’ll be able to continue his career at ADM once all the corrupt bosses have been removed. The FBI don’t seem to be too keen to dispel Whitacre’s rather fanciful future prospects, and begin to tap his lines and wire him up in the boardroom, where Mark conceals a tape recorder in his briefcase, and delights in his ‘secret agent’ role. Unfortunately for the FBI, Mark Whitacre isn’t exactly what you’d call a reliable witness, and his active imagination ties their investigation into so many knots, it looks like they may never be able to unravel them all to get to the truth.
Matt Damon piles on the pounds (as well as some baggy suits and some ‘loud’ jumpers, thank you costume designer Shoshana Rubin) to play the deluded company man Mark Whitacre. Whitacre’s utter conviction in what he’s spouting is enough to disguise his delusions, and Matt Damon gives the funniest performance of his career, an absolute delight and a world away from his super-spy Jason Bourne. In one scene, Whitacre actually gives himself the code-sign ‘0014’, suggesting he’s ‘twice as good as 007’. Whitacre also narrates his opinion throughout the film, in a manner that reminded me of Christian Bale’s ‘American Psycho’ character, offering up trivial facts, urban myths, and generally quite a high opinion of himself! These narrations supply some of the film’s most memorable quotes, such as this one, ‘Polar bears cover their noses before they pounce on a seal. How do polar bears know their noses are black? Did they look in the water one day, see their reflection and say, "Man, I'd be invisible if it wasn't for that thing.’
Although Damon is undoubtedly the star of the movie, Scott Bakula (TV show ‘Quantum Leap’s star) makes it a double act with his trusting FBI Special Agent Brian Shepard, who even sympathises with Whitacre as his charade begins to fall apart. Why Bakula has never had a bigger movie career is something of a mystery, as he’s a really likable screen presence, and he’s a brilliant foil for Damon. Melanie Lynskey, who had a break-out performance in 1994 with ‘Heavenly Creatures’ alongside Kate Winslet, adds another quiet but well-judged turn as Whitacre’s despairing wife Ginger.
Director Steven Soderbergh continues to demonstrate his versatility (‘Che’, ‘Ocean's Eleven’, ‘The Limey’), and ‘The Informant’ has a strong visual style incorporating a sunset-style swatch over many scenes, bathing the early Nineties in a golden sheen. Cinematography is credited to Peter Andrews, apparently a nom de plume of Steven Soderbergh. Screenwriter Scott Z. Burns has crafted a really witty script, and the solid story holds firm until the end, unlike Damon’s collapsing fantasy. Even the demented soundtrack score is funny in itself (courtesy of Marvin Hamlisch, famous for ‘The Sting’ and ‘The Way We Were’).
FOUR OUT OF FIVE