The Informant DVD Review

The Informant, from the director of Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13 (Steven Soderbergh), is a February 23rd Blu-ray, DVD and Download release from Warner Home Video.  Dramatized for film but based on true events, the movie tells the amazing story of Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon), a man who worked with the FBI to uncover price fixing at his company, only to get caught up in a web of embezzlement and lies.

Mark Whitacre is a brilliantly intelligent man (now an officer for Cypress Systems – noted at the movie’s end).  He is approached to participate in the FBI’s investigation of ADM, a food processing company who participated in various forms of price manipulation for profit.  Scott Bakula plays the lead agent who works closely with Whitacre in the taping of over 200 internal conversations over a span of a few years.

During the time Mark works with the FBI and builds a case against his company, he also embarks on his own embezzlement operation and manages to gather over $11 million in funds in a short timeframe.  Mark’s ambition is to hang his company’s leaders out to dry so that he can take over management of the company with cash in hand.

As Mark gets more deeply involved in his own criminal actions, the FBI begins to look at him as a target as opposed to a compliant witness.  Mark’s efforts to protect himself combined with his intelligence leads to an amazingly drawn out saga of lies and deceptions.  Mark uses his bipolar disorder as an excuse to conveniently lie and cover up his lies.  He almost seems to convince himself that he is telling the truth as he is formulating his lies.

Though the real story behind The Informant movie is one of expensive crime, the movie itself is cleverly presented as a dramatic comedy, right to the catchy soundtrack.  The story is light and humorous and Matt Damon is brilliant in his role as the brilliant Mark Whitacre.  His portrayal, despite being completely different in look and character, is reminiscent of his work on The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).  In that role, Damon takes on someone else’s identity and the story is built on his ability to lie and manipulate.

Scott Bakula is solid as the lead FBI agent who ultimately is taken advantage of by Whitacre, and who suffers a loss of reputation in his position. 

The Informant is a quality movie about a very intriguing story.  It is good, not great, but certainly worth watching if you enjoy movies based on real events, but with a light-hearted feel.  Steven Soderbergh makes this movie his own and Matt Damon drives the story home in a way that probably only he could have done with his chracter.  The movie is Rated R for language, but is fairly modest with regard to other common thematic elements (limited or no violence, sex, nudity).

MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 108 Minutes
DVD Release Date: February 23, 2010

Grade: B

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey

The Informant DVD Review by Neil of Movie Room Reviews