'The Informant!' review

Matt Damon (Credit: Warner Bros.)

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Movie tattletales tell all

Good or bad, they just can’t keep a secret

Real-life whistleblower Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon, heavier than usual) hopes to climb the corporate ladder while ratting out his agribusiness colleagues for price fixing—regardless of how haphazardly he aids FBI agents (Scott Bakula, Joel McHale) and, oops, commits some white-collar crimes of his own.

The buzz: Inspired by real events and adapted from Kurt Eichenwald's book, "The Informant!" should come with plenty of zip thanks to director Steven Soderbergh (the "Ocean's" series) and writer Scott Z. Burns ("The Bourne Ultimatum" co-writer). Supporting parts for comedians like McHale ("The Soup"), Tony Hale ("Arrested Development"), Patton Oswalt ("Reno 911!"), Scott Adsit ("30 Rock") and Paul F. Tompkins ("Best Week Ever") are also likely to lighten things up. However, is this story—which includes Whitacre's eventual diagnosis of bipolar disorder—meant to be a joke?

The verdict: Essentially "Truthiness: The Movie," "The Informant!" is a vastly entertaining look at an absurd situation, with officials who think the guy calling foul must be fair, and a guy who thinks he's in good shape as long as he's not the biggest crook he knows. Whitacre is a hilarious contradiction of good intentions and bad decisions, and Damon, undoubtedly one of his generation's most versatile actors, magnifies both the strategy and foolishness with which this guy operates. All the lies and half-truths grow repetitive, and too many decisions happen off-screen or don't happen at all. (Whitacre's wife, played by Melanie Lynskey, is underserved.) Yet beneath the laughs is a story about the very relevant normalcy of corruption within certain institutions, told around a guy who's funny and sad, ridiculous and pathetic, like a little animal caught in a big trap.

Did you know? Whitacre's boss (Tom Papa) fears the company dropping from No. 44 to No. 45 on the Fortune 500. The only thing in life that's scarier: Blowing things out of proportion.

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