The Informant!

[Bourne101]

http://z.about.com/d/movies/1/0/A/1/U/theinformantposter.jpg

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Written by Scott Burns

Genre: Comedy/Thriller

Plot Outline: The U.S. government decides to go after an agri-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president turned informant Mark Whitacre.

Starring: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Mike O'Malley, Andrew Daly

Rated R for language.

Runtime: 108 minutes

This is by far my most anticipated September release. It looks hilarious and Matt Damon looks like he's going to be great in it.

[Cop No. 633]

It looks funny. Damon's talent will probably carry the whole movie. Hell, even his expression on the poster is funny.

[ericdraven]

Holy Shit, Matt Damon can play any role, and play it good.

[MidnightAngel]

I smell Golden Globe nomination for good ol' Matt.

[ilovemovies]

Looks hilarious. Can't wait to see it.

The 0014 line never fails to crack me up.

[Strider]

This looks like a good time -- not a great time, but good -- and it should be fun watching Matt Damon as the titular character. Whether the film's good or not, I hope it makes a little bit of money, for Soderbergh's sake. The chances of the film performing well at the box-office are probably slim, however. I have a feeling lots of mainstream movie-goers will think to themselves the following: "The Informant with Matt Damon? Fuck it...it's not an Ocean's or Bourne flick."

Strider

[corran horn]

This looks like a good time -- not a great time, but good -- and it should be fun watching Matt Damon as the titular character. Whether the film's good or not, I hope it makes a little bit of money, for Soderbergh's sake. The chances of the film performing well at the box-office are probably slim, however. I have a feeling lots of mainstream movie-goers will think to themselves the following: "The Informant with Matt Damon? Fuck it...it's not an Ocean's or Bourne flick."

Strider

Thankfully, it's budget was very small (22M), so I'm not too concerned about its financial chances.

[SkyNet]

good flick... not really that funny.. it had some laughs here and there but ultimately it is just a real interesting look at this man and how much of an idiot he was!

Good flick

[ElderPredator]

Saw it last night and LOVED IT! This kind of "smart comedy" isn't for everybody but I laughed my ass off consistently throughout, especially with Damon's inner-monologue bits. Scott Bakula and the rest of the cast were hilarious as well!

Rating: 8/10

[jz68]

There's dry humor and then there's humor so dry that it ceases to be funny. This movie was like the Sahara desert.

4/10

[SkyNet]

the inner monologues were comical at times... but for me, i didnt really laugh at any of them.. just a mild chuckle. But i did enjoy the flick as a whole... i especially loved that almost every supporting role was played by a lesser known comedian. And LOVED that the Smothers Brothers made a sweet cameo!

[Bourne101]

The Informant! - 8/10

While the previews may have been a bit misleading, this is still a great film and is amongst the best of the year so far. It's not nearly as funny as I thought it would be, but once the tone of the film is set, that's not necessarily a bad thing and you realize that you're in for a bit of a different beast. Sure, there are few funny moments, but the trailer basically highlighted the funniest moments. It kind of reminded me of Catch Me If You Can a bit, in which the occasional moments of comedy stem from some of the unbelievability of the things that are going on in the film, even though the majority of the things that happened are actually true. I was a bit confused at the start, but once the movie started moving along I realized that being confused was sort of the point. Mark Whitacre seems like a genuine and nice person, but you get to a certain point in the film where you realize that everything that he does and says is all LIES and sometimes you really don't know what to believe. You see his sort of stupid persona and think that he is actually that stupid, but then things start to develop and you start to realize that although he pretty stupid, he is just completely fucking with everyone and is something beyond a compulsive liar. It was a blast to see Matt Damon nail this role, through both the comedic and dramatic moments that he is involved in. The narration was great and sort of let you get into the completely twisted psyche of Mark Whitacre. I was expecting an intelligent comedy, but this film was far deeper and more intelligent than I ever thought it would be. Now that I know that it is not a full-blown comedy, I'll have to watch it again and I think that I will enjoy it more knowing that there is a bit more to it and that it's a bit more meaningful. So don't go in expecting a comedy, but rather go in expecting to see a wildly entertaining, immensely intelligent and well-acted drama/thriller/comedy that will always have your brain working.

[corran horn]

I just saw it and agree completely with Bourne's take.

While the music was a little much for me, I really liked the narration as it showed how nuts this guy was.

Having read the book, I knew what to expect, but even my jaw dropped when it became clear just how much Whitacre was screwing with everyone.

Props to Damon for his performance and to Soderbergh for not only putting it on film but also filling it with some very unlikely (but inspired) casting choices.

8/10

[sbunn10]

I didn't like it at all. I love Damon, but I thought his performance was pretty unspectacular to be honest. I was just so bored by the film... I chuckled at some of the dialogue, but the film was far less witty than I expected. I ended up just feeling a bit sorry for Whitacre because he was clearly so screwed up. They expected laughs, but they used the same joke over and over again. Oh man, he said 11 million this time? He keeps saying more? Oh because he's a compulsive lier. Right. Got it. I don't know, I just was expecting it to be much more upbeat and funny, rather than the dry, odd film that it was. The advertisments made it to be much more of a comedy than it is. Oh and the music was absolutely awful, it just annoyed the hell out of me.

5/10

[Rated R]

Where you didnt' see comedy, like the music, I did. No, it doesn't fit but that's the point. The Informant acknowledges that it has the plot straight out of a Crichton novel but then spins it on its head. If Soderbergh played it straight it would have been a generic corporate thriller that has been made a thousand times. It's dry and not always laugh out loud funny but it's not just a straight comedy either.

I don't know, it seems that a good portion of complaints are how it wasn't laughs the whole way through as if you'd prefer no dramatic or human elements at all. I like how it breached both comedy and drama. Loved the movie.

[sbunn10]

No, I was expecting a dry drama/comedy, but I didn't find either of those elements to be very effective in the film. I didn't care about the characters and I didn't find anything Whitacre did to be hilarious. I understand that the music was supposed to be funny... but the scenes that it played over weren't funny enough to have such a zany soundtrack, imo. The exclamation-marked title and the crazy music are both the director making a claim that the events about to go down are going to be ridiculous and funny. Beyond Whitacre's amusing self-monologue, I'm sorry, nothing was special to me. It just dragged on. It has nothing to do with me "not preferring dramatic or human elements"

I'm glad you enjoyed it though, I wish I had gotten as much out of it as you did.

[Rated R]

That's fair. It either clicks or it doesn't. Oh and the not preferring dramatic or human elements thing I said is a dick-move out of context. What I was attempting to infer (poorly) was that expectations can sometimes throw one for a loop if the film turns out to be completely different in tone than what was anticipated. But if overall you just found it to drag then that likely has little bearing on your opinion of it.

I still thought Damon was fantastic though.

[sbunn10]

Good point regarding the expectations, but I don't think it affected my feelings too much. And Damon was very good. I don't think it's an Oscar-worthy turn though, which I heard mentioned in some Rottentomatoes blurbs.

[Bourne101]

Good point regarding the expectations, but I don't think it affected my feelings too much. And Damon was very good. I don't think it's an Oscar-worthy turn though, which I heard mentioned in some Rottentomatoes blurbs.

I doubt he'll get an Oscar nomination considering the number of potential candidates that I've been hearing about, but I expect he'll probably get a Golden Globe nomination in the comedy category.

[corran horn]

I doubt he'll get an Oscar nomination considering the number of potential candidates that I've been hearing about, but I expect he'll probably get a Golden Globe nomination in the comedy category.

If he does get one, it won't be for this. It'll be for INVICTUS.

[Lat er al]

very enjoyable and fun to watch. Loved everytime the money increased. 8/10

[JoeChar4321]

7.5/10

Like mentioned above, not a comedy as advertised but there are a few chuckles along the way. Still, it's a very solid and interesting film. Matt Damon does a superb job. The entire supporting cast is filled with off beat actors that are perfect for the roles they play. The movie evolves from mundane and average to down right interesting as you attempt to follow the bizarre motives and actions of Damon's character. What's true? What's false? What's really going on here? This is a movie that requires you to follow along but one that's worth your effort.

So don't go in expecting a comedy, but rather go in expecting to see a wildly entertaining, immensely intelligent and well-acted drama/thriller/comedy that will always have your brain working.

There ya go, although I'd leave off the "thriller" label. It's a smart and amusing drama.

[Earl Bonds]

What a waste of time. The trailer was funny as hell and got me in the theater but thats where it ends. the movie dragged on for hours and I barley laughed, the trailer had all the funny parts and the movie is boring as fuck. Sometimes I just dont understand how movies like this are green lighted...

I find it hard to believe that people actually told Soderbergh that this was a good movie. I use to love the guy but latley, he has been putting out utter shit bag after utter shit bag. Talk about a director who has lost his touch. Please, Steven, go back to film school.


2/10

[bigred760]

There really isn't that much going for this flick. It's not that funny, like the trailers and promotions led me to believe. The story's okay, the characters interesting, and the direction isn't exactly anything to write home about. Matt Damon is probably the best thing about the movie. He's great as the informant who's not exactly the most trustworthy soul on the planet. I was never exactly bored or uninterested in the movie, but I wasn't exactly completely engaged in it either. I liked some of the voiceovers by Damon's character; I chuckled at a few of those. But in the end, it's just a "blah" movie.

6/10

[mick621]

I really enjoyed this movie. Matt Damon's performance was excellent, the dialogue and directing excellent, didn't spot any flaws at all. Easily one of the years best films! 9/10