The Informant,
| The Informant! | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Steven Soderbergh |
| Produced by | Gregory Jacobs Jennifer Fox Michael Jaffe Howard Braunstein Kurt Eichenwald |
| Written by | Scott Z. Burns Kurt Eichenwald (novel) |
| Narrated by | Matt Damon |
| Starring | Matt Damon Scott Bakula Joel McHale Melanie Lynskey |
| Music by | Marvin Hamlisch |
| Cinematography | Stephen Soderbergh |
| Editing by | Stephen Mirrione |
| Studio | Participant Media Groundswell Productions Section Eight |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | September 18, 2009 |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $22 million |
| Gross revenue | $41,771,168 (Worldwide) |
The Informant! is a 2009 American biographical thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh. It depicts Mark Whitacre's involvement as a whistle blower in the lysine price-fixing conspiracy of the mid-1990s as described in the 2000 nonfiction book, The Informant by journalist Kurt Eichenwald. The script was written by Scott Z. Burns and the film stars Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Melanie Lynskey.
Plot summary
Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon), a rising star at Decatur, Illinois based Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in the early 1990s, blows the whistle on the company’s price-fixing tactics, after his wife Ginger (Lynskey) forces him.
One night in early November 1992, Whitacre confesses to FBI agent Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula) that ADM executives — including Whitacre himself — had routinely met with competitors to fix the price of lysine, an additive used in the commercial livestock industry. Whitacre secretly gathers hundreds of hours of video and audio over several years to present to the FBI. He assists in gathering evidence by clandestinely taping the company’s activity in business meetings at various locations around the globe such as Tokyo, Paris, Mexico City, and Hong Kong, eventually collecting enough evidence of collaboration and conspiracy to warrant a raid.
Whitacre’s good deed dovetails with his own major infractions and struggle with bipolar disorder.The film focuses on Whitacre's meltdown resulting from the pressures of wearing a wire and organizing surveillance for the FBI for three years, instigated by Whitacre's reaction, in increasingly manic overlays, to various trivial magazine articles he reads. In a stunning turn of events immediately following the covert portion of the case, headlines around the world report that Whitacre had defrauded $9 million from his own company at the same period of time he was secretly working for the FBI and taping his co-workers, while simultaneously hoping to be elected as CEO following the arrest and conviction of the remaining upper management members. After being confronted with evidence of his fraud, Whitacre's claims in his defense begin to spiral out of control, including an accusation of assault and battery against Shepard. Because of this major infraction and Whitacre’s bizarre behavior, he was sentenced to a prison term three times longer than the white-collar criminals he helped to catch. Agent Herndon (McHale) visits Whitacre while in prison in order to support him for a presidential pardon.
Cast
Matt Damon as Archer Daniels Midland executive Mark Whitacre
Scott Bakula as FBI agent Brian Shepard
Joel McHale as FBI agent Robert Herndon
Melanie Lynskey as Ginger Whitacre
Thomas F. Wilson as Mark Cheviron
Tom Papa as Mick Andreas
Rick Overton as Terry Wilson
Allan Havey as FBI Supervisor Dean Paisley
Patton Oswalt as Ed Herbst
Scott Adsit as Sid Hulse
Eddie Jemison as Kirk Schmidt
Clancy Brown as Aubrey Daniel, ADM attorney
Tony Hale as James Epstein, Whitacre's attorney
Andrew Daly as Marty Allison, ADM vice-president
Frank Welker as Mr. Whitacre
Candy Clark as Mrs. Whitacre
Dick Smothers as Judge Harold Baker
Tom Smothers as Dwayne Andreas
Richard Steven Horvitz as Bob Zaiderman
Bob Zany as John Dowd, attorney
Paul F. Tompkins as FBI agent Anthony D’Angelo
Production
In 2002, after completing Ocean's Eleven, Soderbergh announced his intent to adapt the book The Informant by Kurt Eichenwald, a former journalist for The New York Times. Scott Z. Burns wrote the script based on the book.
Production began in May, 2008 in Decatur, Illinois. Filming was also done at the former Whitacre mansion in Moweaqua, Illinois, a small town about 25 miles from Decatur, and at Illini Country Club in Springfield, Illinois. Some exterior shots were done in Mesa, Arizona, in November 2008. The film was released on September 18, 2009. Damon gained 20-30 pounds for the role in order to look more like Whitacre.
For the film Soderbergh cast a number of stand up comedians in prominent and supporting roles, including Andrew Daly, Joel McHale, Allan Havey, Tom Papa, Patton Oswalt, Rick Overton, Paul F. Tompkins, the Smothers Brothers and Bob Zany.
Release
Critical reception
The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 77% of critics gave positive reviews based on 197 reviews with an average score of 6.8/10. Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating from reviews from mainstream critics, reported a score of 66 out of 100 based on 35 reviews. Film critic Roger Ebert awarded the film 4 stars out of 4 claiming "The Informant! is fascinating in the way it reveals two levels of events, not always visible to each other or to the audience."While giving the film the grade of a B, Entertainment Weekly said that "Soderbergh has chosen to apply an attitude of arch whoopee, a greasy veneer of mirth over what is, no joke, a serious mess of malfeasance and mental instability," concluding, "Soderbergh ultimately made the choice to abandon interesting, dispassionate empathy for the more quick-fix payoff of amusement." Rolling Stone gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, and, in response to critics of the film's comic tone, Pete Travers said, "Laugh you will at The Informant!, but it's way too real to laugh off." People magazine also assigned the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, saying, "[Damon]'s a hoot, and so is the movie." Todd McCarthy of Variety also praised Damon's performance, calling his interpretation of Whitacre, "The wacky little brother of Erin Brockovich".
Box office
The film opened at #2 behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs with $10,545,000. [16] As of December 17, 2009 the film had grossed $33,316,821 domestically and $41,771,168 worldwide.
In the United Kingdom, the film opened at #10 with £179,612 from the opening weekend. It was the third highest new entry after A Serious Man and The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
Awards
The film has received nominations for multiple awards, such as a Satellite Award for Best Actor for Damon's performance as well as a nomination from the Detroit Film Critics Society.On December 15th, Matt Damon was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy, but lost to Robert Downey, Jr. in Sherlock Holmes[
(source:wikipedia)
