Touches You

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The first must-see film of the year.

Amazing story, made even more incredible by the fact that it is true. Starts slowly and looks like it is going to be a non-event, but then picks up the pace from about half way through. From then on it gathers momentum like an avalanche. The final scenes in the movie are manic and pretty funny. Steven Soderbergh crafts a great movie using this snowballing insanity and Matt Damon's acting skills. Damon is excellent in the lead role, and plays out of his comfort zone. Rather than a dapper hero, he is a nerdy, paranoid villain.Excellent movie, but requires some patience.

It's 1992 Decatur, Il. Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) works for ADM developing lysine from corn. He tells his boss that he got a call from a Japanese competitor about a saboteur in their plant. The informer wants a $10M payoff. He is shocked when his boss calls the FBI. His wife Ginger (Melanie Lynskey) keeps telling him to just tell the truth. FBI Agent Shepard (Scott Bakula) investigates. Mark tells Shepard that this is actually a case of price fixing by ADM with their Japanese and Korean competitors.Steven Soderbergh has impregnated this with happy music and light comical narration throughout. Matt Damon is wildly manic as the sketchy upper management type. It's lightly comical take on a serious and probably boring corporate story. It's all in the performance of Matt Damon and trying to figure out how much of what he says is actually true.

Matt Damon proves once again that he is the most versatile actor in Hollywood. I'm not sure any other actor can play a psycho in The Talented Mr. Ripley, a butt kicking action hero in the Bourne trilogy, an all around good guy in the Oceans' trilogy and a villain playing both sides in The Departed. In the Informant, he adds another character to his arsenal. Mark Whitacre, a white collar company man who gets caught up in corporate conspiracy. Or does he? Matt Damon plays Whitacre so perfectly you're never quite sure if Whitacre is a naive white collar schlub, a genius mastermind or just a guy who is seriously mentally disturbed. In fact, it could be a combination of all three. Matt Damon's superb performance doesn't mean the Informant is a great film. For a film that's supposed to be a comedy, it never quite elicits more than a chuckle in a few scenes. This is kind of disturbing for the simple fact that The Informant is bursting at the seems with comedians/comedic actors. Patton Oswalt, Joel McHale, Tony Hale, The Smothers Brothers, Melanie Lynskey, Paul F. Tompkins and many more I'm either forgetting or just didn't recognize. I'm not sure I see the point of casting comedians if they are never allowed to say anything funny. The Informant is a good film, jut not a great film. If it wasn't for Damon's performance, it would have been rated a lot lower. It's somewhat uneven and slow in parts. Its failure to provoke laughter means I can't give it more than a 70%.

I'd like to just give a very short review in the form of pro and cons:*minor spoilers*pro: - Matt Damons dramatic acting - portrayal of the decay of the "Whitacre" as a moral character - transition from 90s cinematic look to the "present" one - tony hale (apart from that short "busteresque" moment)cons: - Matt Damons comedic acting (works at most for some late night show) - storytelling not very fluid - Thomas Wilson always seems on the edge of breaking characterThe Movie would have maybe worked if not for the bad execution of its comedic intent (acting and script wise).