The Informant!

No, the exclamation point at the end of its name is not an accident. This film walks boldly into what could have been told as very serious story, and presents a whimsical, hilarious and sometimes biting story about a man who carelessly falls into the pitfalls of corporate greed, FBI investigations and the ever growing business of corn production.

The Informant! follows the story of Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon), who holds a Ph.D in nutritional biochemistry, and is a high level executive for Archer Daniels Midland, a multi-million dollar corn syrup conglomerate. When a virus spreads through a component of the corn and a Japanese competitor holds the antidote and the identity of the company informant from the ADM, Mark is instructed to have the FBI bug his home phone in order to prosecute the foreign business. When a trouble avoiding Mark informs the FBI agent that the calls were not made on his home business phone line, but on his home line instead, and that his company has been participating in corporate kickbacks and price fixing schemes, the FBI taps both phones and informs Mark that he must work undercover to obtain proof of his claim.

Although the story telling mechanism is twitchy and erratic, the film progresses quickly, and I was soon laughing at the sheer quirkiness of it all. I don't mean quirky in the Diablo Cody sense, but rather in a more adult and intelligent sense. Mark narrates his story, and although the film appears to follow the main plot, Mark seems to tune out of his life and into his thoughts more than twenty times throughout the movie. While FBI executives instruct him on how to properly wear a wire, Mark shares with us the trailing and almost infinite monologue in his mind. We are treated to diatribes about his hands, brain anurisms, ties, and the government controlled perceptions of paranoia. These prove to be the funniest parts of the movie, but the main plot of the story is not without its charms.

The film follows the events sweetly, but this film comes with a groan-factor that seems to almost outweigh the potential of the movie. Several scenes has me staring at the ceiling of the cinema in embarassment, and it was even scarier that Damon could so easily pull of the neivity required for a role like this. Speaking of Damon, although his work was ambitious, I wouldn't clamour to give him a nomination quite yet. He plays the part of Mark so honestly, and from a very real place, but the character simply is not strong enough to carry him to the Oscars.

The film found bits of lag in the middle, and if it weren't for the upbeat constant soundtrack that brought me back to the silent picture era, this film could have very easily been a flop. Luckily, with some interesting directional style from Steven Soderbergh, a very able cast of actors, an incredibly workable and hilarious script this film floats to the top, although its twitchy and occaisionally pointless stretches kept it from soaring.

B+

If you enjoyed Burn After Reading or NBC's The Office you may enjoy this movie.