Canby Herald Online

'The Informant!' – A movie you'll love ... without knowing why

• By: John Baker  
• Published: 10/6/2009 11:03:49 AM

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Matt Damon provokes laughter and head shakes of amazement with his portrayal of a sometimes brilliant, sometimes dense FBI informant.

Ever sit through a movie that you really enjoyed, but weren’t sure why?

That’s the sensation I took away from “The Informant!” – a Matt Damon vehicle that mixed subtle humor with head-shaking amazement throughout.

Damon plays Mark Whitacre, a smart, ambitious climber with agri-chemical giant Archer Daniels Midland.
As a price-fixing scandal begins to take shape, Whitacre begins a journey as an industrial whistle-blower that leads him to heady highs and humbling lows. The gag is that he loves the highs, but can’t figure out why he’s suffering the lows.

He sees himself as not so much a champion of truth and justice in everyday corporate America, but as a guy who, once he’s done spilling the beans, will be the only one left to salvage ADM and take it into a brighter, more honest future.

There’s a great moment where Whitacre is in a hotel room with the FBI just before the arrests take place and he asks his handles if he’ll be all right when it’s over.

“I think the corporate culture is going to change a bit,” replies one of the agents in a hilarious understatement.

But Whitacre doesn’t get it and it shows, as he waffles between intellectual brilliance and utter stupidity. Both work in this film.

Unfortunately, he keeps getting in the way of his own efforts. Whitacre ends up loving the attention and the intrigue of spying for the FBI, but doesn’t see the impending disaster his life is headed toward. Wonderfully enabled by his wife Ginger (played with subtle brilliance by Melanie Lynsky), Whitacre embarks on a journey of lies to his company, the FBI, his attorneys and just about everyone he comes in contact with.

And, as it turns out, he used corporate greed and common company practices to embezzle a substantial amount of money – the total of which grows with each admission.

His mind seems to be at its best when spinning yet another yarn that “sets the record straight.”

It’s at once agonizing and amusing to see him continue down a path that ultimately turns him from crusading whistle-blower to a pathetic figure scorned by the law, reviled by his former employers and caught in a web of his own lies.

Damon plays the character with an understated style that lends an air of authenticity to Whitacre’s corporate dorkiness. He knows he’s lying, knows he’s changing the story over and over again, but is convinced he’ll be the hero when the smoke clears.

You root for the guy, but also want to slap him across the head at some of his most idiotic moments. He’s too smart for this to happen – or is he?

It’s fun to see Scott Bakula back on the screen in a role that offered a little meat. He delivers a nice team effort with Joel McHale as the FBI agents who see their golden ticket slowly and achingly turn into an anvil around the neck. Whitacre turns out to be a nightmare and the two agents desperately want to save a case that Whitacre continues to destroy, lie by painful lie. Bakula’s exasperation is tempered by his desire to recognize Whitacre’s brave decision to tell the truth. He’s at once exasperated and empathetic to Whitacre’s plight, but is powerless to stem the tide. He’s just caught up in it.

Again, I enjoyed this movie tremendously, but I can’t put my finger on exactly why. It’s a sly, sneaking fun look at corporate greed and one man’s flawed attempt to stop it while reveling in the celebrity of doing so.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, this one has a cheeky stance to it that creates a feeling that nothing and no one is what they seem. If you’re looking for a quirky movie outing, this one fits the bill perfectly.

"The Informant!" is rated R for language and is 108 minutes in length.

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