New Release Review!

The Informant!

 Marc Calderaro reviews Soderbergh's hilarious and perplexing film The Informant! (It's awesome!)

The Informant! (2009)

D: Steven Soderbergh

I'd heard it from a few critics and didn't know whether to believe it. But after finally seeing Steven Soderbergh's The Informant!, I agree 100%: Matt Damon was nominated for the wrong film. Sure, he was good in Invictus and perhaps deserved the Best Supporting Actor nom., but he's outstanding in The Informant! – the “true” story of a corporate whistle-blower whose whistle was dirtier than anyone imagined. Damon plays the bi-polar ladder-climber, Mark Whitacre, so well, I started to believe that overweight, balding Damon actually acted this irrationally and neurotically.

Based on a book by the same name (minus the exclamation), the narrative weaves a tale of misconduct, embezzlement and price-fixing in the 1990s food industry. However, none of these aspects are of interest to Soderbergh. Instead, he's fixated on Whitacre – his bland existence, his boring life, and his banal, corporately minded, stream-of-consciousness inner monologue. Every set piece, every beige-on-yellow color palette, emphasizes the awkward exploits of this man. Whitacre starts as the hero, the sole altruist in a sea of greed; but he quickly falls from his ivory tower. And The Informant! Simply chronicles his fall. It's awesome.

After watching this film, if you still have trouble believing that Steven Soderbergh is one of the finest American directors working today, I don't know what else can convince you. Right now, the man has four films on our new release wall, ranging from “above-average” to “balls-out-amazing” – The Girlfriend Experience, Che: Part 1, Che: Part 2, and now The Informant! Not to mention, his new documentary about Spalding Gray, And Everything is Going Fine, currently touring the festival circuit. He's directed 14 films since 2000 and the worst one was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (Erin Brockovich – although a case could be made for Ocean's 12). He's produced legions more movies and TV, and oh yeah, he's his own cinematographer. Soderbergh continues to carry the torch of American filmmaking and The Informant! is yet another great inclusion to his canon.