The Informant! Reviews and Ratings


  • barrys
    November 23, 2009
    barrys
    The informant is that kind of movie that at the end of the movie you go out thinking and wondering what you saw. But after certain time you realize that you saw and intelligent , very sarcastic and incredible movie. It is a film about ising corporate star, Mark Whitacre, who turn...( read more)s whistleblower against his employer, agribusiness giant ADM, for price fixing. Its story is very good and the plot is very well developed. The movie at the beginning is a little slow and maybe tiresome but the last hour when the situations began to unwrap, it becomes very interesting and with a very fast pace. The music is really enjoyable The cast is very good, a very fat Matt Damon in a type of role you never imagine him to be, Melanie Lynskey as Damon's wife was quite decent and after being away fro I don't know how much time, Scott Bakula with and excellent peformance. In conclusion, Steven Soderbergh latest movie is a very interesting movie people should give it a chance, it totally worth it.
  • Nenebelle
    November 23, 2009
    Nenebelle
    Rcommended by scottydgibbs.
  • aaroncalander
    November 23, 2009
    aaroncalander
    I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this film and was quite surprised by Matt Damon's subtle yet intriguing performance as well as the fine direction from Soderbergh and fantastic musical score. It is sharper than fellow conspiracy film "Burn After Reading," and stands on its...( read more) own with more serious and gritty whistleblower films like "The Insider," and "Michael Clayton."

    Although it was quickly forgotten at the box office and dismissed by a number of reviewers, I would definitely recommend this little gem. I can only hope that it is a sign of what's to come with Steven Soderbergh. Maybe a return to the glory days of films like "The Limey," and "Out of Sight," and "Erin Brockovich." Check out the amazing supporting cast as well, including Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, and Patton Oswalt.
  • scottydgibbs
    November 22, 2009
    scottydgibbs
    matt damon is exellent as the informant of the piece, letting the f.b.i know of a price fixing scam in his company,and from there getting inway over his head, damon is this film, but some superb direction from soderdberg, using his loose style seen in his films like traffic, the ...( read more)limey and oceans films, the film flys by as we watch damon bumble his way, through plot,and also we learn not all is what it seems, a exellent score, which adds a lot, and nicely set early 90s setting, even scott bacula coming back from the dead, as the f.b.i agent in charge, is exellent to watch, soderdberg has shown with this type of material, a great film can be made
  • Ladiva4
    November 21, 2009
    Ladiva4
    Matt Damion keeps coming back as a sly cunning backstabbing rat prick in his roles...I'm starting to think he's attracted to these characters in that he is what he plays...either that or he's typecast as a flawed character....he was very good in the Bourne movies...so you know h...( read more)is potential... like with Good will Hunting as well. Oh well he's still a good actor....but If I saw this movie I'd just get mad.
  • agentsnash
    November 21, 2009
    agentsnash
    I really enjoyed this movie. I was one of the only ones in the theater laughing though realizing a lot of it was dark humor. The voice-overs in this movie kind of annoyed me. Very interesting character though.
  • mrscythompson
    November 21, 2009
    mrscythompson
    i like Matt Damon...want to see more of the film
  • LoraQuinto
    November 20, 2009
    LoraQuinto
    The first half of the movie was boring, the second half was better. Matt Damon's acting was great and so was Scott Bakula's performance. It's a nice comedy/parody especially when you know that this movie is based on a true story. A pity that the 1st half of the movie was boring...
  • rabbits7
    November 19, 2009
    rabbits7
    A straightforward, visually austere comedy with a great performance by Matt Damon who elevates the film beyond mere farce.
  • pucebliss
    November 18, 2009
    pucebliss
    I was so disappointed in this movie! It was one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen... save your money on this one!
  • SwalehaKassim
    November 18, 2009
    SwalehaKassim
    Want to see it for Matt Damon
  • bristowgaze
    November 17, 2009
    bristowgaze
    I was bored, but it was well made. This type of story does nothing for me but I am sure it does something for some people.
  • oreomoviejunkie
    November 17, 2009
    oreomoviejunkie
    A very interesting and funny film, with a cool set and costume design (go 70's fashion!), a nice direction and editing, and a very nice, fun story. Damon steals the film with his dorky, naive, yet mysterious character. Go!
  • alycia15
    November 14, 2009
    alycia15
    Two and a half stars may seem a little harsh, considering that it was well written, clever and Matt Damon did a great job portraying his character....... I just don't really care if I ever see it again! The story line maxed out it's limit of interesting halfway through the show, ...( read more)after words was just painful repetition. I vote see it once... then be done with it.
  • olumiere
    November 13, 2009
    olumiere
    O filme é mais uma vítima da burocracia narrativa de Steven Soderbergh.
  • kuhlmawi
    November 10, 2009
    kuhlmawi
    Loved it! Damon does an amazing job of projecting this sleezy duelistic character. The take on the period (1960's) is spot on.
  • kemoooo7
    November 10, 2009
    kemoooo7
    I expect it's totally awesome
  • rilokatie
    November 8, 2009
    rilokatie
    Strong on all fronts. Def appreciated the slow reveal.
  • erk42
    November 5, 2009
    erk42
    Informing For Dummies

    This movie was not the laugh-out-loud comedy that the trailer depicted. Its humor is more subtle. There are some good laughs to be had and watching Matt Damon in a somewhat goofy role is a real treat. Damon is supported on all sides by a wonderfully ensemb...( read more)led supporting cast, especially Scott Bakula, Melanie Lynsky, and Joel McHale. The story is crisp and ultimately dumbfounding, as we discover who the main character really is..a pathological liar. It's amazing that all this was happening at a place a little more than 100 miles from where I live.
  • waika0505
    November 1, 2009
    waika0505
    funny but not interesting
  • mjgmadd
    October 31, 2009
    mjgmadd
    This fool was crazy az hell ,and they say some real shit lol.
  • bigux
    October 31, 2009
    bigux
    If this was (only) fictional I would find the guys who wrote it genious ...knowing that this was "based on a true story" I must say don't buy any thing from Cypress Systems ;) and go see it!
  • her69eyes
    October 28, 2009
    her69eyes
    Steven Soderbergh's third effort to be released in the last 12 months (fourth if you count "Che" as two pictures) is "The Informant!", a comic corporate thriller about real-life whistle-blower Mark Whitacre. Whitacre, who suffered from bipolar disorder, became notorious as being ...( read more)the highest-ranking executive in U.S. history to snitch in a case of corporate fraud. In the end, Whitacre succeeded in revealing Archer Daniels Midland's price-fixing tactics, but meanwhile wound up with a prison sentence three times longer than the criminal executives he successfully exposed.

    Matt Damon, who gained thirty pounds for the role, dons an ugly toupee and a mustache for the task of playing Whitacre. He's not your typical hero - he never quite tells the whole truth, he often blatantly lies, and he displays the intellect of a 9-year-old with severe attention deficit disorder in the process. Through inner monologue, Damon's Whitacre often indulges his wealth of useless trivia while receiving briefing by the FBI - facts about polar bears, butterflies, and the panties of young girls in Japanese vending machines.

    Whitacre becomes involved with special agent Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula) after revealing a huge price-fixing scheme on lysine, an amino acid, concocted by agribusiness giant ADM. For two and a half years, Whitacre wears a wire, providing hundreds of tapes for the ongoing investigation. In the process, however, Whitacre's ignorance jeopardizes the entire case - he narrates his tapes, introducing everyone he encounters by name and job title, and even starts fiddling with his Nagra device during a business meeting with the executives he's in the process of exposing.

    Soderbergh doesn't let us too close to Whitacre - we share the frustrations of the FBI agents and lawyers trying to get a straight story out of him. While a lesser actor might make such a character frustrating, however, Damon has such an abundance of charisma that he's pleasant company throughout. We may groan when, later in the film, Whitacre attempts completely asinine counter-lawsuits against both ADM and the FBI, but no matter how deep he digs himself into a hole, we're always pulling for him. Whitacre, often saying that the conspiracy is like "something out of a Crichton novel", pegs himself to be a super-spy - 0014, in fact, as he's twice as smart as 007.

    Damon will probably be an oversight come Oscar season, but it may be one of the actor's very best performances. The supporting cast is all wonderful, as well, from Melanie Lynskey as Whitacre's wife to the terrifically deadpan Scott Bakula. "The Informant!" is yet another film in Soderbergh's repertoire that solidifies him as one of the most interesting, and certainly one of the most diverse, American directors working today.
  • jenn1984106
    October 26, 2009
    jenn1984106
    Really good movie, well acted (obviously Matt Damon is in it) and good plot. I adored the dialogue with the voice over!
  • holliewoodby
    October 25, 2009
    holliewoodby
    Loved the music. Liked Matt Damon's acting. Unattached to the plot.
  • jluisgarci
    October 24, 2009
    jluisgarci
    I came out of this movie with mex feelings, I guess is that it was so well written and acted that I got into the plot and really experienced what everyone in the movie itself , I was very frustrated with the main character. I guess they really got me in, which speaks very well a...( read more)bout the director and actors. You should go see this and judge for yourself...Liked the movie no doubt...
  • Dracula787
    October 24, 2009
    Dracula787
    Contrary to what Ayn Rand may have told you, corporations are for the most part evil. When left to their own devices they will gladly screw over their competitors, their employees, and their customers if it will make them a little more profit. This is why they make such effective...( read more) Hollywood villains, they have a long history of activities that would make Darth Vader blush and deep down they have almost no remorse. Since every villain needs a hero to vanquish them, Hollywood has invented someone to put a white hat on: the whistleblower. While the whistleblower genre probably doesn?t have as many websites dedicated to it as other sub-genres, it?s actually a pretty populous category of film and like most things that are done to death people are beginning to get a bit sick of its pattern of self-riotousness and manufactured drama. So, when it came to light that Steven Soderbergh was making adapting the story of real life whistle blower Mark Whitacre it was safe to guess we?d get something more than standard genre fare, and from the moment the film?s trailer came out it was clear that was the case.

    Based on the nonfiction book by Kurt Eichenwald, this film tells the story of the man who helped the FBI conduct one of the biggest price fixing scams in American History. This investigation began when the company called in the FBI to deal with an extortion scheme reported by Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon), an executive in the lysine division of ADM. Shortly into an investigation by agent Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula), Whitacre reveals that he and his colleagues have been illegally conspiring with other companies to systematically drive up prices worldwide. Whitacre agrees to wear a wire and collect evidence against the company he works for, and in doing so is able to collect an unprecedented amount of evidence for the FBI. Whitacre claims he?s doing this to clear his conscience, but he doesn?t really seem all that torn up about lysine consumers, so why is he doing this? That will turn out to be the key question at the heart of all of this, because Mark Whiticre is not exactly what he seems.

    The conventional wisdom about Steven Soderbergh is that he does big budget studio produced films filled with celebrities in order to build the cache required to make low budget experimental films starring non-actors. Because of this reputation critics are inevitably going to deride this as one of the former, but really this whole notion is something of a misnomer. This may have a bigger budget than something like Bubble and it may star an A-list celebrity, but deep down the way this film handles genre is just as experimental as a lot of those other projects. If you go to one of those seminars they have to teach screenwriters how to build successful formulaic films step by step, the first thing they?ll tell you is to focus on a character with a clear motivation and to have that motivation drive the plot. As such, this would have largely focused on the goal of bringing down ADM and stuck with this conflict throughout if this were a conventional film. Instead, this movie becomes defiantly disinterested in the fate of ADM and instead focuses on what the title says it will focus on the informant.

    This informant himself is a pretty odd character played brilliantly by Matt Damon. Whiticre is a strange person who seems more like Ned Flanders than Deep Throat. He?s in his forties, has a bad comb-over, and a goofy looking mustache. More importantly, the guy?s a doofus; he?s the antithesis of the intense image of businessman that Gordon Gecko embodied. At times Whiticre seems to not grasp the stakes of his actions, and the film?s voice over track is clouded by his odd stream-of-consciousness musings about subjects ranging from the German word for pen to the thinking patterns of polar bears. This man?s existence is certainly one of those ?truth is stranger than fiction? type creations and making him believable had to have been a hefty challenge. Fortunately Matt Damon brings Whiticre to the screen excellently. It takes a little while for Damon?s achievement to really sink in, but when you compare his performance here to the badass he was when playing Jason Bourne and it becomes immensely clear how much of a range Damon has as an actor.

    Because Whiticre is so strange many have come to label this movie a spoof, but I?d hesitate to use that term simply because it conjures images of broadly comic films like Aireplane and Scary Movie, and this film is neither as silly as those films nor is it trying to be as funny. However, this film does play with genre conventions in a way that?s not completely unlike what spoof films do. This is a movie that easily could have focused other elements, chosen a different tone, and used different techniques and end up looking like a remake of The Insider. Instead Soderbergh is able to make this movie a completely different through a handful of unexpected decisions. For example, the film has adopted a very 1970s aesthetic (even though the story is set in the early 90s), this would seem like a logical enough choice if one was trying to channel the corporate thrillers of that era like The China Syndrome, Serpico, and Silkwood, but it isn?t really the serious filmmaking of the 70?s that he?s channeling. Rather, Soderbergh is channeling everything that was kind of tacky about the era like the gaudy font the captions are in or the unexpected but compelling smooth jazz score by Marvin Hamlisch. As such, the film?s aesthetics sort of play with what we?re supposed to expect from this kind of movie just as much as the script does.

    Ignoring all the genre trickery we do still get what is on its own a very fascinating story. Mark Whitacre is an enigma, one that has not been completely cracked by the time the credits role and a big part of the joys of this film are trying to figure out just what makes him tick. What?s more strange is that aside from some of his more self-sabotaging habits, Whitacre isn?t too different from most corporate executives. He?s a man who lies, cheats, and steals almost as a habit then hides behind an ?aw shucks? smile, the only difference is that he seems to believe his own bulls--t. In focusing on this personality we get a much better look at the face of corporate crime than we ever would watching the heroes take down another anonymous board room filled with mustache twirlers. While I wouldn?t place this in the upper echelon of Soderbergh?s work, this is a movie that deserves as much respect and analysis his movies which wear their experimental nature like a badge of honor.
  • isabelleweber1
    October 24, 2009
    isabelleweber1
    É engraçado, mas faltou alguma coisa.
  • Zorreau
    October 24, 2009
    Zorreau
    La folie douce. Je connais des gens pareils!
  • delamons083067
    October 21, 2009
    delamons083067
    was an out standing movie really kept me interested whole time, even better knowing this guy is for real yes based off real story , agian excellent
  • ColorMePsycho
    October 20, 2009
    ColorMePsycho
    Sorry...It went over my head...Hopefully.
  • castellonalfredo
    October 18, 2009
    castellonalfredo
    Somehow I could understand him in this role (relationship between wife and him)
  • johann1870
    October 18, 2009
    johann1870
    Top performance by Matt Damon
  • jennifermilano
    October 18, 2009
    jennifermilano
    The fact that this is a true story made the movie even better. Matt Damon did a great job portraying this odd man. You end up feeling just as confused as Mark Whitacre probably felt in the contradictions of his mind.
  • Bozo21
    October 18, 2009
    Bozo21
    Stupid - cooked food from the sky yeah that works for idiots but not sentient beings
  • fusionroxally
    October 18, 2009
    fusionroxally
    Okay?. Looks like a weard movie, dont wanna see ittt, not at all..
  • thepowerofthebunny
    October 17, 2009
    thepowerofthebunny
    It get's a little boring at first, but it becomes better after Matt Damon actually receives his version of a bipolar personality.
  • wareagle1
    October 17, 2009
    wareagle1
    It was very funny with some surprising turns. Exactly what I have come to expect from Soderbergh
  • donnar111
    October 17, 2009
    donnar111
    Everyone hates a snitch, and Matt Damon made himself look unattractive for the role, so probably worth a watch.
  • cdsfire
    October 16, 2009
    cdsfire
    Not the most entertaining, but the inner dialogue was enough to keep me interested. Damon's acting was amazing as well as the story.
  • truecrimson
    October 15, 2009
    truecrimson
    matt damon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • agapiospapaioannou
    October 15, 2009
    agapiospapaioannou
    got bored watching it...
  • hayleighgothicatyahoocom
    October 12, 2009
    hayleighgothicatyahoocom
    it was funny in a political way
  • meetarnav
    October 11, 2009
    meetarnav
    My rating = http://www.bookrum.com/blog/?p=2035
  • Weapon117
    October 11, 2009
    Weapon117
    Matt Damon nails the role as The Informant!

    For years, Mark Whitacre has worked for Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a lysine developer. Whitacre has worked his way up the ranks in management, and has a healthy salary and a loving wife with three children. But when Whitacre ...( read more)realizes that ADM is meeting with competitors to fix the prices of lysine, he confesses to FBI Agent Brian Shepard about the matter. Whitacre is then coaxed into becoming an undercover spy for the FBI. Over the course of 2 years, Whitacre provides hundreds of audio and video recordings of the lysine conspiracy. But at the same time, Whitacre's own lies begin to pile up and the trust the FBI has in him begins to diminish. Whitacre's life becomes more stressful and disfigured than ever as his own greed will cost him penalties more severe that the high ranking executives of ADM. Mark Whitacre soon wishes that he had never decided to become the FBI's Informant!

    This 2009 dark comedy is directed by Steven Soderbergh, best known for directing Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen. Soderbergh successfully crafts a film here that is worth people's attention. It brings to the screen the lysine (an animal feed additive) price-fixing conspiracy that was organized during the mid-1990s. Bringing this topic to the screen will no doubt make viewers question what other conspiracies may be going on in the modern world concerning any type of commercial good.

    Matt Damon does a reverse Christian Bale maneuver for this flick and gains a whopping 20-30 pounds to get the doughy look of Mark Whitacre. Mark Whitacre is a high ranking executive of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) who simply becomes the FBI's informant in their investigation of possible lysine price fixing. Whitacre may seem like a jolly guy with his happy-go-lucky smile and a homely family, but beneath that image is a man with a bipolar disorder and the belief that he can come out on top after the FBI's investigation. Damon really nails the role of Whitacre, providing laughs, insightful narration, thrills (not in the Jason Bourne way), and that you never know when this guy will stop lying. Damon really does deliver in his role and lives up the movies tagline; Matt Damon is The Informant!

    You also can't complain about the supporting cast either. You got Scott Bakula as FBI agent Brian Shepard, Joel McHale as FBI agent Robert Herndon, Melanie Lynskey as Mark's wife Ginger Whitacre, and even the always reliable Clancy Brown shows up as ADM's attorney Aubrey Daniel. The supporting cast is more serious than Whitacre, but gets the story from point A to point B, even throwing in some comedy along the way.

    This film does have a light coating of comedy for the viewer, but it is also an almost true tale about the lysine price fixing conspiracy of the 1990s. The film captures the look and feel of the FBI, transportation, clothing, and overall corporate image of the early decade. The music has its unique feel and you can sometimes also hear the James Bond theme while Whitacre is undercover.

    This film is worth checking out if you are a person who can stomach a dark comedy tale about a mostly true story. It's not worth watching a second time unless you didn't understand it the first time.
  • sohustle
    October 11, 2009
    sohustle
    this movie is no good if yew want a good laugh.
  • lhnguyenvt
    October 11, 2009
    lhnguyenvt
    Matt Damon is amazingly entertaining in his role. Had a several chuckles :)
  • Yinali
    October 10, 2009
    Yinali
    Just...Not funny enough, and LONG.
  • geeses1996
    October 10, 2009
    geeses1996
    this seems so stupid

Summary

The Informant! Summary