In the first, we're introduced, rather spectacularly, to Mark Whitacre (a portly Matt Damon with a snazzy Skywalker Swoop adorning his skull), a high-ranking Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) biochemist-turned-corporate-lackey who begins spilling his guts to FBI agents Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula) and Robert Herndon (Joel McHale) in 1992. Granted, Burns' devilishly deceitful protagonist will irritate some, and Soderbergh's absurdist tone may alienate those expecting the laugh-riot teased in its trailers, but The Informant! is my kind of comedy. ![]() Who is Mark Whitacre? A bumbling dimwit struggling with a crisis of conscience? A misguided upstart fueled by greed? A lonely loser desperately searching for a sense of purpose? A cunning and manipulative crook clawing his way up the corporate food chain? A simple man scrambling to survive in a world of cutthroats and cheats? A devoted husband and father? Narcissistic family man? Unrepentant opportunist? Slack-jawed monster? Compulsive liar? Scorned everyman? Lost soul? Coward? Criminal? Thief? All those things, and more? That's exactly what director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Burns wanted to know after reading former- New York Times journalist Kurt Eichenwald's book, The Informant exactly what you'll want to know after watching The Informant! (more on that exclamation point in a moment), a sharply written, cleverly crafted farce that proves to be as funny and infectious as it is tragic and disarming. Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, February 19, 2010
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