Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale

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-fixin...( read more  read more... )g 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.

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47% liked it

300,901 ratings

Critics

76% liked it

174 critics

R, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Release Date: September 18, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (4,891)


  • 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.
  • September 21, 2009
    Mark Whitacre; I haven't been telling you guys the whole truth, but I'm gonna clear that up in here today.

    Matt Damon and director Steven Soderbergh team up without the rest of the Ocean's gang to make a corporate thriller. However, instead of treating it like Michael Mann's T...( read more)he Insider, the film reverses what could be seen as tension and makes the film into a human comedy.

    Damon stars as Mark Whitacre, a rising biochemist put into the business side of his company. However, after discovering a few things that seem to not be good morally, Whitacre goes to the FBI to turn whistle blower against his company. What follows is a story that places Whitacre in the line of fire as he works a double life involving him taping business meetings and reporting on instances of illegal activities, however there may be more to Whitacre's innocent nature than it seems.

    While being sold as a more outrageous comedy in its trailers, true to Soderbergh's style as a director, the film plays more slowly and subtly in terms of its story and characters. This can't be said for its score by "The Stings" Melvin Hamlish, who gives the film a 60s jazzy tone, undercutting any possible seriousness for the film.

    There is a large cast of character actors, mostly comedians, featured in this film and it all felt fitting to the tone of the picture, however it is Damon who makes this film work. Between the witty narration of obscure thoughts and the fun he has with gaining weight and making himself appear ridiculous, he has this character down and helps this film along.

    Soderbergh once again amuses me with his ability to jump back and forth between bigger and smaller pictures within a short time frame. Each time, his films have a great aesthetic quality to them, making the films appear to be carefully planned out, with a good looking quality to them.

    I point this out because there isn't much to this film and it wont appeal to everyone, but Damon is great in it and fans of Soderbergh should like it.

    Mark Whitacre: Why would I hid anything from you guys?
  • September 20, 2009
    Murf.

    Damon was goofy and funny. The music was goofy and stupid.
    Shooting on the red...led to some real lighting issues.

    Also felt way out of the loop 1/2 of the movie because so much was happening behinds the scenes. I felt like 1/2 of the damn thing was exposition cuz Whita...( read more)cre was lying so much, the whole story told through the ole unreliable narrator trickola.

    Catch it on DVD, not theatres.
  • November 21, 2009
    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.
  • November 21, 2009
    i like Matt Damon...want to see more of the film
  • November 20, 2009
    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...
  • November 19, 2009
    A straightforward, visually austere comedy with a great performance by Matt Damon who elevates the film beyond mere farce.
  • November 18, 2009
    I was so disappointed in this movie! It was one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen... save your money on this one!

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 21, 2009
Kurt Loder, MTV

The movie is a totally-owned comic coup for Matt Damon, demonstrating here, in ways that aren't always obvious in his action films, what a gifted performer he is. 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
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

Despite an appealing central performance from Matt Damon, disguised in a mustache and complicated swoop of hair, The Informant! feels like a jumble of ideas rather than a concerted whole. 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

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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