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Biochemist Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) becomes an FBI whistle-blower in Steven Soderbergh’s comic “The Informant!” |
About halfway through Steven Soderbergh’s fact-based comedy “The Informant!,” I couldn’t help but think, “Why, this is exactly the kind of movie that someone some day might make about one of Illinois’ more colorful politicians!”
“The Informant!” (yes, that exclamation point is intentional) tells the true story, more or less, of a federal investigation prompted by the irrational acts of an intelligent man whose warped, delusional view of his own goodness and self-importance becomes so convincing that everyone around him gets sucked into one, gigantic media storm of outrageous deception, greed, corruption and political megalomania.
It was a brush of utter brilliance for Soderbergh to mount “The Informant!” as a comedy, complete with a fun and punchy score from Marvin Hamlisch, paying tribute to Henry Mancini’s music during his original “Pink Panther” period.
But “The Informant!” offers us no jokes or boisterous humorous payoffs. Rather, it depends on a subtle comic tone and Matt Damon’s dweeby performance to work, although neither one can fully sustain Soderbergh’s bold movie. (Read more…)