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Movies / In Theaters / The Informant!
The Informant!

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The Informant! (2009)

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Reviews Counted:31

Fresh:23

Rotten:8

Average Rating:6.8/10

Consensus: A charismatic turn by star Matt Damon and a consistently ironic tone boost this quietly funny satire about a corporate whistle-blower.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Sep 18, 2009 Wide

Box Office: $33,278,731

Synopsis: What was Mark Whitacre thinking? A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Whitacre (Matt Damon) suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company's... What was Mark Whitacre thinking? A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Whitacre (Matt Damon) suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company's multi-national price-fixing 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 (Scott Bakula and Joel McHale) and threatens the case against ADM as it becomes almost impossible to decipher what is real and what is the product of Whitacre's active imagination.

Academy AwardŽ winner Matt Damon ("Good Will Hunting," the "Bourne" movies) stars in "The Informant!," based on the true story of the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history. The film also stars Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Melanie Lynskey.

"The Informant!" is directed by Academy AwardŽ winner Steven Soderbergh ("Traffic") from a screenplay by Scott Z. Burns, based on the book The Informant (A True Story), written by Kurt Eichenwald. The film is produced by Gregory Jacobs, Jennifer Fox, Michael Jaffe, Howard Braunstein and Kurt Eichenwald. George Clooney, Jeff Skoll and Michael London served as executive producers, with Michael Polaire co-producing.

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes production designer Doug Meerdink, editor Stephen Mirrione and costume designer Shoshana Rubin. The music is by multiple OscarŽ winner and nominee Marvin Hamlisch ("The Sting," "The Way We Were").

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Participant Media and Groundswell Productions, a Section Eight-Jaffe/Braunstein Enterprise, "The Informant!" --© Warner Bros [More]

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

Starring: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey, Tony Hale, Thomas F. Wilson, Rick Overton, Tom Papa, Adam Paul, Paul F. Tompkins, Clancy Brown, Patton Oswalt

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriter: Scott Z. Burns
Producer: Gregory Jacobs, Jennifer Fox, Howard Braunstein, Kurt Eichenwald
Composer: Marvin Hamlisch
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Reviews for The Informant!

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Soderbergh is a good listener, too, always alert to the myriad ways his characters reveal, conceal and finally betray themselves in thought, word and deed.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
09/19/09
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Soderbergh has transformed this into a treatise on the incompetence of everyone involved: the informant, the corporation upon which he informs, the lawyers, and the FBI. Strangely enough, it's completely believable.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
09/19/09
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
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I liked the movie quite a bit, but by the end I felt as if I were at a live TV show with a blinking sign ordering me to LAUGH.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
09/19/09
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
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It'd be a tragedy if it weren't so richly absurd, but it would also make for better comedy if the joke weren't on us. The Informant! laughs so long and hard that it forgets to check whether we're laughing along.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment 1 Comment
09/19/09
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
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The Informant! has two aces going for it: Soderbergh's poking at the maze­like holes in American business and Damon's whirling dervish performance.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
09/18/09
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
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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 Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
09/18/09
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle
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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 Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
09/18/09
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
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[Damon] occupies his equivocating antihero utterly, capturing the Walter Mittyish self-delusion, the desperate desire to please, and the bottomless conviction that, whatever his transgressions, he's still one of the good guys.

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
09/18/09
Christopher Orr
Christopher Orr
New Republic
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It suggests that in a world gone mad, even the good guys can be a little cracked, and that, in an age of self-indulgence, it might be hard for a whistleblower to heed his own alarms.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
09/18/09
Chris Vognar
Chris Vognar
Dallas Morning News
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The exclamation point in the title is your first clue that Steven Soderbergh's intentions here are more than a little askew.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
09/18/09
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Associated Press
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Damon’s voice and demeanor are just right, and the actor—who really is an actor, a good one—works out Whitacre’s particularities like a character man stepping up to a leading role, rather than a movie star, slumming.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
09/18/09
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
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A smart, cynical movie about how we buy now -- oops, I mean, how we live now.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
09/18/09
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
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The Informant! is more amusing than laugh-out-loud hilarious, but is never boring.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
09/18/09
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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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 Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
09/18/09
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
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I enjoyed it, in a momentary-diversion sort of way, without really being sure it was worth doing.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
09/18/09
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
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In adapting reporter Kurt Eichenwald's non-fiction account of Mark E. Whitacre, the corporate corn husker turned federal snitch, Soderbergh has given this incredible story exactly the amount of insanity it deserves.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
09/18/09
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
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Mr. Damon plays it admirably straight, for the most part, thereby serving as a counterweight to the clamorous self-delight that surrounds him. Unfortunately, that's not enough to save the production...

Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | comment Comment
09/18/09
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
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While this film fits squarely into Soderbergh's recurrent goal of ignoring audience interest when possible, that's the only area in which it can be considered a success.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/17/09
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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 hardly recognizable as lethal Jason Bourne.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
09/17/09
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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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 Source: USA Today | comment Comment
09/17/09
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
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Latest News for The Informant!

September 18, 2009: Scott Bakula Talks The Informant! Opens in new window
He's currently in "The Informant!" but Collider had plenty of other stuff to ask Scott Bakula about during their interview -- including, of course, his stint on "Quantum Leap." More...

September 17, 2009: Critics Consensus: Jennifer's Body Is Hot, But The Movie Isn't
This week at the movies, we've got a possessed student body (Jennifer's Body, starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried); an oddball snitch (The Informant!, starring Matt Damon and... More...

September 09, 2009: click for trailer and preview Opens in new window
More...

July 12, 2009: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

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