The Informant! (2009)

Corporate exec. gets mixed up in FBI whistle-blowing scandal.

Lots of people didn’t like Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! “Is it a slight drama or a black comedy?” they wondered. “And why is the main character such an idiot? Or is he actually some kind of warped genius? Are we supposed to like him? And what’s with the campy, 60s kitsch soundtrack?” I understand those complaints, but I have an incredible admiration for Soderbergh’s elusive film, which alters its tone more abruptly than a Formula One racer changing gears. The Informant! is as delightfully unpredictable as main character Mark Whitacre (spectacularly played by Matt Damon), an enigmatic cipher who sometimes seems like a guileless moron and others a manipulative, compulsive liar. Despite the seemingly ironic stance employed by Soderbergh and Damon (i.e., the title’s exclamation point), both find a genuine pathos in the character, with results that are unexpectedly stirring. I also enjoyed Soderbergh’s choice to cast comedians and comedic actors (Joel McHale, Patton Oswalt, Paul F. Tompkins, Tom Papa, Tony Hale) in no frills, straight-man roles.