Movie Review: The Informant! - R

cross-posted from A Catholic View

Warning: Possible spoilers.

Based on a true story.

Mark Whitacre (Damon) works for Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), where he is a rising star. At first, he tells a story about being blackmailed by someone adding a virus to one of their food products. The next story he tells is one of price-fixing. That one is actually true. He agrees to wear a wire, thinking he will will move up when he brings down the top executives. That doesn't happen, but by the end of the story it is clear that he has gotten more out of this than anyone realized.

I found the characters pretty annoying, especially Whitacre. At first, he portrays a naive, almost child-like character. As the story progresses, he becomes more and more pathological, and you begin to doubt every word he utters. By the end of the story, it is clear that he needs medication. The other characters are almost as annoying; they are almost caricatures of themselves. I actually think Damon did a good job portraying his character as he did; Whitacre was probably just that annoying and frustrating to the FBI.

The first part of the story was fairly entertaining. After the sting, the story of the fallout was slower paced. Perhaps it seemed that way because I was weary of the characters and eager to see how it turned out.

Content Warnings: There was no nudity, no sex scenes. The only warning I can offer is that the F-word was used a couple times.

http://theinformantmovie.warnerbros.com/