Rating of
2/4
"The Informant!" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/28/12
The Informant! is based on the true story of corporate whistle blower Mark Whitacre who came to the FBI with evidence of global price fixing, but caused their case to become threatened when it became obvious that he was a compulsive liar and embezzler. The film is a kind of comic throwback to the cold war thrillers of the 70s with the espionage being perpetrated by big business rather than the super powers. In fact it is the tone that Soderbergh chose for the film that never really sat well with me; namely the soundtrack that consists of a constant stream of cheesy lift muzak gives it the feeling of a light-hearted sitcom and although Matt Damon puts in a winning performance as Whitacre, the format really contains little more than stream of scenes involving men in ties having meetings which becomes quite tiresome by the end of the film. Scott Bakula is his usual likable self as the lead investigator but the rest of the rather forgettable cast don't really get much of a look in. Beyond the mild amusement and disbelief at Whitacre's actions it all feels a little too flimsy and the material didn't really have the legs to last nearly two hours for me. An interesting story that is almost scuppered by the rather misjudged approach.
