There are few directors who can take such a mundane story and turn it into comedic gold. Steven Soderbergh is one of those directors. Soderbergh’s career is marked with both commercially successful movies as well as poignant art films. His latest project, The Informant, is a rich tale of deception and corn which unfolds like a suspense novel; or as Matt Damon’s character would say, “One of those Crichton books.”
The Informant follows the story of Mark Whitacre, a bio-chemist for a large corn company, the fictional ADM. As informed in the opening lines of voice-over (provided throughout the film by Whitacre), corn is a part of everyone’s daily life, which in business terms means “Corn goes in one end and money comes out the other.” However, Whitacre decides to blow the whistle on his beloved company’s illegal activities and turn informant for the FBI. Think that’s boring? Well, it’s not. Matt Damon’s performance as the lovable fool Whitacre is true comedic gold. But that’s not all… oh no, there’s more. A third of the joy of this movie comes from the smaller roles and the wonderful actors who many will recognize. Patton Oswald (stand up comedian, King of Queens cast member), Joel McHale (TV’s The Soup), Thomas F. Wilson (Biff from Back to the Future series), and even the Smothers Brothers have small but great roles which contribute quite a bit to the unfolding plot. Have I mentioned the music? Marvin Hamlisch, who’s beautiful score contributed much to the powerful Sophie’s Choice, provides just the right combination of quirky and melodic Midwest style tunes which set the tone for many scenes.
When I first saw the bright orange-yellow poster for this satirical tale, I knew it was something different. Steven Soderbergh and Matt Damon have previously worked together on the “Ocean” films (Ocean’s 11, 12, and, 13), so I knew this film was going to be something great. I left the theater feeling quite satisfied. I’ve always like Soderbergh’s films and I think this film is one of his best works (others being Traffic and Out of Sight). I found myself laughing out loud a few times and heard other people laughing at other times, so the general reception of this movie seemed positive.
Was this film worth seeing on the big screen? Well, technically all films are worth seeing on the big screen (it’s a great experience), except maybe seeing a Hannah Montana movie. I would, however, recommend that this be a rental. As much as the story was cleverly written and the jokes are spot on, this is a DVD kind of movie.
Details
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Written by Scott Z. Burns, adapted from the novel by Kurt Eichenwald
Cast: Matt Damon, Joel McHale, Thomas F. Wilson, Scott Bakula, the Smothers Brothers
Running Time: 108 mins
Rated: R for language.
