Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen, Erin Brockovich), The Informant! is a politically themed comedy about an innocent employee Mark Whitacre, (Matt Damon) who has worked his way up the hierarchy only to be approached one day by the FBI to aid them in spying on the company he has worked in for so many years.
In the time Mark Whitacre progresses as an informant, he feels the extreme pressure of working for the FBI and his own company at the same time and soon ends up losing more than just his mind.
This comedic take on the book (written by Kurt Eichenwald) is based on true events about the ADM price fixing conspiracy. With the screenplay by Scott Z. Burns, the film stars Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Melanie Lynskey.
I immediately had a smile on my face after watching the trailer as there were parts there that I definitely found amusing. It seems as though Matt Damon makes for a very good adaptation, portraying how clumsy the character was at the beginning of being an informant until the end where I could easily see Matt Damon gradually losing his grip on reality.
Matt has also done remarkable works in his past films both in comedy (Ocean’s Eleven) and drama (Good Will Hunting), this role is well suited for him. In fact the role Matt plays in Ocean’s Eleven as an agent from the ‘Nevada Gaming Commission’ to remove Bernie Mac for fraud reminds me a lot of his role in The Informant! Having said that, it does seem like a very typical film for Steven Soderbergh to direct, it may lack originality or differentiate from his older works with Matt Damon.
I personally think that this comedy goes along the same lines of ‘The Men Who Stare At Goats’ so if you like that particular style of comedy then I think you will appreciate and enjoy this film. So based on the fact that this type of comedy may not be for everyone I will give this a Film Buzz Anticipation Rating of…….7 Buzzes!
The Film Buzz Anticipation Rating: 7/10
UK Release Date: 20th November 2009
Director’s: Steven Soderbergh
Writer’s: Scott Z. Burns
Links: IMDB, Official Site, Rotten Tomatoes
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