The Informant!
Steven Soderbergh takes us on an altogether more cynical and often sarcastic journey through what could have been the biggest corporate scandal in modern American history.

The exclamation mark at the end of The Informant! tells us much about what we need to know about this film. Whereas Michael Mann’s superb The Insider was a self-consciously serious look at corporate greed gone amuck, Steven Soderbergh takes us on an altogether more cynical and often sarcastic journey through what could have been the biggest corporate scandal in modern American history.  Mark Whitacre played by Matt Damon is the informant inside the agriculture giant ADM. He accuses the company of price fixing, and so spies on behalf of the FBI who attempt to build a case against them.

However it’s not as simple as this; the film is partly narrated by Whitacre who is the very definition of unreliable. Soderbergh takes us on a bizarre journey through the psyche of what is ultimately a very troubled mind. The seemingly nonsensical and irrelevant monologues are an early clue that Whitacre isn’t completely in touch with reality. And as the story unfolds, Whitacre becomes even more deluded and isolated from reality and the other characters become increasingly confused by his behaviour.

Damon’s performance is superb. He captures the contradictions of the character perfectly, playing to the comic elements of the script as well as the ultimate tragedy of this figure. Although The Informant! is a comedy, it isn’t looking for belly laughs. Instead, it weaves comic absurdity through every element; most notably the score. Marvin Hamlisch’s incredible composing is critical to the narrative and in many cases provides the gags itself. It’s rare that an original score such as this is as important or as noteworthy as Hamlisch’s work is, but it’s fair to say that The Informant! wouldn’t be half the film without it.

Soderbergh’s films are often experimentally stylish and The Informant! employs some obvious and other less obvious visual devices. The whole film sits behind a yellow hue, a clear nod to the corn industry at the centre of the plot. Soderbergh has also gone to great pains to make the film look as if it was taking place in the 1970s. The story largely takes place in the mid-90s and whilst technology and fashion styles are consistent with the period, the film’s credits, score, camera work and colouring otherwise date the film somewhere around 1975. Perhaps a nod to the whistleblowing dramas of the 1970s, perhaps just another Soderbergh experiment, The Informant! remains striking to watch.

The prolific Steven Soderbergh has long ago proved his versatility as a filmmaker and his creativity that permeates every aspect of the films he makes. Often taking on other key roles in the production under pseudonyms (he was the cinematographer on The Informant! under the name Peter Andrews), Soderbergh constructs a world on screen around his story and characters unlike anyone else. The Informant! is a worthy addition to his impressive list of credits, one of Matt Damon’s finest performances, and some of the most fun you’ll have at the cinema this year.