REVIEW: The Informant!

Here's a quick plot synopsis of Steven Soderbergh's latest, The Informant!, from IMDb.com:

Mark Whitacre has worked for lysine developing company ADM for many years and has even found his way into upper management. But nothing has prepared him for the job he is about to undertake - being a spy for the FBI. Unwillingly pressured into working as an informant against the illegal price-fixing activities of his company, Whitacre gradually adopts the idea that he's a true secret agent. But as his incessant lies keep piling up, his world begins crashing down around him.

If you look at the history of movie trailers, there's an interesting progression. The earliest movie trailers contained extended scenes from the movie, with all kinds of white text sliding in and out, and usually with some clever narrator talking about how the film stars are "back at it again." Then you got Don LaFontaine with his booming voice and his trademark "In a world..." phrase. Nowadays, trailers either give away the plot of the film or make the movie seem like something its not. The Informant! trailer is one of the latter. The film is pitched as an absurd comedy, but is much more serious than the trailer lets on. Sure, there are elements of dark humor and Matt Damon seems like a buffoon (key word "seems") but this really is a fairly serious film, like a somewhat light The Insider or All the President's Men.

And kudos to Steven Soderbergh, by the way, for taking a novel about corporate espionage in the agricultural sector and turning it into a good film. It is a good film, with the performance of Matt Damon being its centerpiece. Its really Damon's film more than Soderbergh's. It hinges on certain believable nuances of Damon's character and Damon definitely pulls them off.

I think Matt Damon is underrated as an actor. I told this to Kinsey the other day and she didn't buy it, saying he gets tons of praise already. Yeah, the guy's got an Oscar, but its for writing, not acting. He has an Academy Award nomination for Good Will Hunting, his first lead role, but since then, nothing. The Talented Mr. Ripley, Syriana, The Good Shepherd, The Departed, heck, even the Bourne movies; his performance in any of these films was good enough for a nom. The guy should have at least one Best Actor trophy on his mantle. Maybe it'll be this year, his performance in The Informant! is definitely worthwhile.

Kinsey: 3/5 stars

Wade: 4/5 stars