The Informant!
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Scott Z. Burns (screenplay); Kurt Eichenwald (book)
2009
When this film was over, I really didn’t know what to make of it. It’s one of those films that leave you a little confused, even though the story was fairly straightforward. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. The Informant! is a quirky Soderbergh film with his unique brand of humour and nonlinear editing style. Matt Damon (thank you Mr. Soderbergh for not casting your good friend George Clooney in this film) is superb in the title role of Mark Whitacre, a corporate employee who exposes his company’s price-fixing operation to the FBI, leading to larger problems in the company and Whitacre’s life as he is exposed as a possible embezzler. As a viewer you are constantly conflicted as to whether or not to believe this Mark Whitacre because his story is constantly changing whenever he retells what happened. One time it’s 5 million he reportedly embezzled and the next time it’s 7, that sort of thing. Whitacre creates so many lies of omissions and fabrications that even the FBI begin to question his level of ‘truthiness’. Nevertheless, as a whole the film is pretty good and even more enjoyable if you are partial to Soderbergh and his brand of storytelling. My favourite aspect of the film is Mark Whitacre’s strangely funny and out of place random thoughts, portrayed in voice overs. They are hilarious and relatable because they are the kind of random thoughts everyone has all the time. So, keep an open mind and go see The Informant! for yourself and let your opinions run rampant!
