Movie review: The Informant!

Movie review: The Informant!

The Informant! is a difficult movie - that's the best way to describe it. It's a little difficult to watch and wrap your head around. Therefore, it's difficult to review and strike an appropriate tone. It would be easy to sound like I hated it or loved it, neither of which is the case.

The Informant follows Mark Whitacre, a hilariously square and self-confident businessman, as he helps the FBI take down corn syrup manufacturer ADM, the very company that helps run. What ADM, the FBI, and the media don't realize along the ride is that Mark isn't quite who he appears to be... and isn't quite all there. By the end of the movie, to quote Alan Jackson, it's hard to know who's cheatin' who.

There are lots of standout performances in the movie. It made me happy to see Scott Bakula acting again, and Joel McCale pulls off a very subtle performance that's a good distance from his public persona. No doubt, though, that Matt Damon steals the show, turning Mark Whitacre in to an overcompensating spy wannabe. His inner monologues propel the movie, giving it some of its most hilarious moments and making some of the more boring moments bearable (the noise of business meetings fade out as Mark has deep thoughts about polar bears).

That, though, is where the flaws of the movie lie. The movie is about an informant in an investigation on price fixing in the corn syrup industry. That's really freaking hard to make sexy or witty. The screenwriters and Soderbergh do their damnedest and make it an enjoyable movie, but they aren't voodoo lords. There ARE going to be boring parts no matter who directs or writes it. The trailer definitely did a disservice to the film, making it look like a madcap comedy by putting the movie's few kooky moments all in one trailer.

So getting this out of the way, there will be dry spots, but the movie is still enjoyable. Being a filmmaking nerd, my favorite part was the style of the film, especially the coloration that made it look so dismal and early 90s. It's not something I'd rewatch, but I had a good experience the first time around.

Final verdict: 7/10 (I promise, I'm not stuck on this rating!)