Sir Isaac Newton once said, "To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.” Mark Whitacre’s life is in a state of chaos after working with the FBI to bring down his company for involvement in an international price-fixing scheme. Director Steven Soderbergh’s (Ocean’s 11) intelligent dark comedy, The Informant, profiles how one man’s web of lies, stories and accusations led to his firm’s undoing while simultaneously revealing that his own sense of reality is not exactly accurate.Matt Damon’s performance as an IDM Vice President who works with FBI agents Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula, Quantum Leap) and Scott Herndon(Joel McHale, Community) to bring down high-ranking officials in his company is Oscar worthy. The film documents Whitacre’s key role as an informant and instigator in the explosive global investigation during the mid to late 90s. Soderbergh’s film is a brilliant portrait of one man’s undoing by his propensity to fabricate events and stories just to stay a hero on the front-page headlines.
The film’s most impressive element is its ingenious screenplay that has Damon’s character narrate his own storyline, revealing Whitacre’s disturbing neuroses as he justifies and validates his excuses for any wrong doing. The Informant has moments of lag time as the picture overemphasizes his downward spiral in wake of his exposure. This is an unorthodox and sometimes hilarious flick that will tickle your funny bone and make you rethink the premise behind telling just one harmless lie or making an omission of the truth.
Grade: B+
In select theaters. Rated R.
Posted 9/27
