Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey, Rick Overton ...( see more  see more... ) , Tom Papa , Thomas F. Wilson , Tony Hale , Patton Oswalt , Ann Dowd , Allan Havey , Tom Smothers

What was Mark Whitacre thinking? A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Whitacre suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company’s multi-national price-fixing ...( read more  read more... )conspiracy to the FBI, Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the common man and handed a promotion. But before all that can happen, the FBI needs evidence, so Whitacre eagerly agrees to wear a wire and carry a hidden tape recorder in his briefcase, imagining himself as a kind of de facto secret agent. Unfortunately for the FBI, their lead witness hasn’t been quite so forthcoming about helping himself to the corporate coffers. Whitacre’s ever-changing account frustrates the agents and threatens the case against ADM as it becomes almost impossible to decipher what is real and what is the product of Whitacre’s rambling imagination. Based on the true story of the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history.

Flixster Users

47% liked it

314,952 ratings

Critics

77% liked it

196 critics

R, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Release Date: September 18, 2009

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DVD Release Date: February 23, 2010

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Stats: 5,447 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (5,447)


  • January 26, 2010
    Decent enough comedy/drama but is not going to be a life changing experience. Damon does a decent job in the lead role but to be honest, I never warmed to the character and didn't care a whole lot what happened to him.
  • November 23, 2009
    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.
  • October 28, 2009
    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.
  • September 28, 2009
    The trailer is misleading in portraying Damon's character as a bumbling informant who yearns to be a secret agent. The poster suggests Apatow's dopey, innocent 40 Year Old Virgin poster. But the fact that these things mislead fits the story. Damon is mesmerizing in this very d...( read more)ifferent role. This man, Mark Whitacre, with a little extra weight, a mustache, big glasses, and a hairpiece (all things that obscure his identity) is NOT so innocent. He does claim to see himself as the white hatted cowboy against a posse of black hatted villains, as someone twice as smart as James Bond- 0014, and as Tom Cruise in The Firm. Well, he has a lot of delusions. The humor is derived from his cryptic voice over observations about life and all his scheming, while everyone else except his wife struggles to discover the truth. It's about what it means to live a double life and how spinning story after story to cover for previous stories can get one in trouble. There are a ton of enjoyable cameos and supporting performances. The music is Henry Mancini-esque.
  • September 27, 2009
    a very pleasant surprise. i liked this film a lot, and it wouldnt be a stretch to say that its probably the best of all of the soderbergh films ive seen. matt damon was great and the script was perfectly witty and clever. i find soderbergh to be an inconsistent director, but s...( read more)ome of the choices he made here to let things happen off camera helped to set up the mystery of who was lying and who was telling the truth and it made this dramedy extremely effective. highly recommended.
  • February 8, 2010
    As Whitacre, Matt Damon is pudgy, sports an undernoirished moustache and wears a wig that looks like the belly fur of a wallaby. But he's convincing, touching and at times bewildering as Whitacre.

    The style and manner of this film are old school. The Nagra reel to reel tape re...( read more)corder in the title sequence and the playfully amusing score by Marvin Hamlisch, are deliberately retro. The Informant! is one for real movie buffs or those of us who like a movie to surprise us.
  • February 7, 2010
    was this a comedy?nope...
  • February 5, 2010
    Matt Damon is just amazing, this man never fails to entertain me.
  • February 4, 2010
    I movie with more twists than you would expect and a performance by Matt Damon that has to be seen. This is a movie that will surpass your expectations.
  • February 3, 2010
    Good performance from Matt Damon as the central character and generally acceptable performances from the rest of the cast, Tony Hale being a stand out in his small role, but the slow pacing and disjointed telling of the story completely ruins the film.

Critic Reviews


September 23, 2009
Armond White, The New York Press

There's no humanity to relate to, no wit to laugh at, only chuckling at one's own sense of superiority -- if you can afford it. full review

September 18, 2009
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

Few directors other than Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino can make films with the same geek joy -- the same love of cinematic history -- as Steven Soderbergh. full review

September 18, 2009
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

A bait-and-switch film that promises caper comedy with silly hair and dated-fashion costumes, and ends up with something that's much weirder -- a marshmallow-light corporate satire. full review

September 18, 2009
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Shooting fast and digital in just 30 days, Soderbergh invests the film with the breathless pace of a thriller and the gravity befitting a nation's soul sickness. Damon makes Whitacre recognizably human. full review

September 18, 2009
Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle

We realize, belatedly, that the entire spoofy venture wasn't that much of a joke to begin with; some very serious issues were gurgling under the surface. full review

September 17, 2009
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

The film's casting is spot on. Damon is delightful playing someone who is a terrible actor. Wearing a ghastly muffin-shaped hairdo, an ill-advised mustache and 30 extra pounds around his waist, he's h... full review

September 17, 2009
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Soderbergh takes a deadly serious news story and amplifies and colors it to the point of outrageousness. The results aren't always consistent, but they are undeniably compelling. full review

September 17, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

As Soderbergh lovingly peels away veil after veil of deception, the film develops into an unexpected human comedy. Not that any of the characters are laughing. full review

September 15, 2009
A.O. Scott, At the Movies

It's very offbeat and it's very odd and it kind of gets inside this Midwestern corporate atmosphere in a very interesting way. full review

September 14, 2009
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

The Informant! does raise a fascinating question: How can humans so compartmentalize their psyches? But Whitacre has no stature -- he's just a nut. full review

View more The Informant! reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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The Informant! Trivia


  • Was a mobster, who was actually an FBI informant in The Departed.  Answer »
  • Who is an fbi informant in The Departed?  Answer »
  • In "A Time to Kill" what does the informant tell them to call him?  Answer »
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