THE INFORMANT!

Soderbergh's latest sees Matt Damon play a real-life FBI informant who claims his employer, ADM (a lycine-developing company) participates in a world-wide price-fixing scandal. The film never attempts to make the agricultural business glamorous or exciting, in fact the opposite as we hear the thoughts of Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) who early in the film never stops talking about the business, which instead of making us interested in his interests makes us interested in him. Matt Damon is made up to look like an average guy, he has a flimsy 'tache, a paunch and an awful haircut. This image, alongside his self-important observations and frequently bizarre behaviour are what make the film.

As a documentation of a true story the film would be a massive fail. We only see the perspective of Whitacre and that is interrupted by his many asides and meanderings on other subjects. What the film succeeds in doing is creating a character that is wholly unsympathetic and yet you sympathise with him anyway. He's a lot like Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. A pathetic selfish man whose initial scheme completely unravels and ends up ruining them more than they could possibly have perceived. That tragic streak is perhaps what makes the character sympathetic. But Soderbergh plays Whitacre as comic over tragic and with Matt Damon's performance that is achieved. The film does have other characters but Damon's performance is the only performance of the movie.

I found the film entertaining. It fits into that category of comedy that The Office, Extras and Curb Your Enthusiasm share, comedy that makes you cringe as the character fucks up again. Damon is brilliant and should put in more comedic roles in the future as it is clear from his interviews that he is a funny guy. Empire in their review criticise the film as unsubstantial and I guess I agree. That would be my sole complaint in a film where Damon's excellent performance, the direction and score are all hard to criticise. I enjoyed it, I laughed, but it didn't really require me to think and it certainly hasn't made much of an impact on my thoughts since I saw the film. Erm, okay, pithy last line...pithy last line..."Fun but a little flimsy"