Kashif Ahmed, 08/02/2010
An excellent blend of the serious and surreal, as Matt Damon bulks up and tunes out in director Steve Sodenbergh's dramatised account of the corporate misadventures of whistleblower Mark Whitakaer; whose work as an FBI mole out to expose a price fixing scandal at a leading U.S. agricultural conglomerate, spirals out of control. Matt Damon, overweight and complete with moustache (always good for comedic effect) puts in his best performance since 'The Departed'. Actor and director, having worked together on 'Ocean's 11,12 and 13', are on the same page and it seems that this movie also serves to channel / coherently arrange elements from Sodenbergh's experimental, if one note, satire 'Schizopolis'. There were times were I would've preferred it if Sodenbergh had reigned in the farcical elements just a tad, but not at the expense of Whitaker's hilarious, stream of consciousness voiceovers, the kind that even Eddie Izzard may deem odd: "I don't like wool on skin, not even that Marino wool they have at Marshall Fields in Chicago, Ginger likes it because its form fitting, but she likes Avocados, and who wants that texture in their mouth?" Set in the 1990s though filmed in a retro 70s style that evokes 'Blow' and 'Burn After Reading', 'The Informant' won't appeal to everyone. But if you're in the right frame of mind; it works to highlight both the rank hypocrisy and unequivocal absurdity of corporate America today. Oddball satire at its best.
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