October 23, 2009: The Informant!
I haven’t returned to Steven Soderbergh’s roots yet to see the film that started it all for him – sex, lies and videotape (I find myself a bit surprised that the IMDB doesn’t quote the title in all lowercase as I’ve always understood it to be). One day I’ll get to it. In the meantime, I’ve seen his one-two punch from the year 2000, Erin Brockovich and Traffic, and I’ve enjoyed Out of Sight and The Limey, and of course Oceans 11 and to a lesser extent its sequels. Oh, and I even saw Full Frontal, in the theatre no less, which makes me a rare case indeed. Being intrigued by the trailers and also a Matt Damon fan, I was keen to see The Informant!
Adapted from the true story of a corporate informant in the Archer Daniels Midland price-fixing scandal in the early 1990s, this film sets a deliberately goofy tone right from the start, and carries it throughout. Reviews were mixed, but I’m solidly in the positives on this one. Damon plays the rising executive who makes tapes of numerous meetings over the space of several years, leading to some juicy material for the Justice Department. However, he frustrates everyone he works with in the government due to his complete lack of tact and seeming penchant for embellishment in his stories. Eventually this comes around full circle and bites him, but it’s quite the ride while it lasts.
Scott Bakula as an endlessly frustrated FBI guy, and Thomas F. Wilson (Biff from the Back to the Future movies) as a slimy corporate lawyer, sketch appropriately broad characters. Tony Hale, known to most as Buster from Arrested Development, gives a laudable performance but doesn’t quite escape the typecasting he’s forever doomed to deal with from his role on that show. There are also wall-to-wall stand-up comedians in supporting and cameo roles, including Patton Oswalt, the long under-appreciated Allan Havey, Andy Daly, Tom and Dick Smothers, and Paul F. Tompkins. As a particular fan of stand-up, I’m always tickled to see this kind of thing.
This is a serious story but it’s almost played for pantomime here, with peppy musical bridges between sequences adding to the light tone. It’s a fun ride; certainly not a bulletproof movie, but plenty entertaining. If the trailer made it sound good to you, then it probably will be.
Light take on a dark story.
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