Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Informant! - Movie review

The Informant! (R) 108 minutes B
Greed, Lies & Videotape

Starring Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Melanie Lynskey and Joel McHale

The trailer for this film is terrific, based on that alone I expected an Oscar caliber performance from Matt Damon and a smart script from Steven Soderbergh. But, if you go into this film expecting anything more than I cheeky, witty, talk-fest... well, you might be gravely disappointed. There are no car chases, street fights, explosions, gun fights or boobs; this is a David vs Goliath vs David story.

Mark Whitarce (Matt Damon) is a high level company man turned whistle-blower. Behind his potbelly and porno mustache is a childlike enthusiasm and deviant criminal mind. The Informant is an intriguing character study (based on Kurt Eichenwald's book) and testimony for criminals everywhere to quit while you're ahead.

Essentially this film is like a healthy entree, it's not as juicy and tasty as a greasy burger, hot french fires and an icy carbonated beverage, but for the discriminating palate it's just as satisfying on many levels and ultimately better for you.

1 comment:

Nobo said...

I thought the melodramatic scoring was pretty brilliant - and I agree on your review. I'd heard a couple people trash it, so I wasn't sure if it was going to be any good, but it was fun.