THE INFORMANT

THE INFORMANT: BOY ARE MATT DAMON'S PANTS ON FIRE

Mark Whitacre: When polar bears hunt, they crouch down by a hole in the ice and wait for a seal to pop up. They keep one paw over their nose so that they blend in, because they've got those black noses. They'd blend in perfectly if not for the nose. So the question is, how do they know their noses are black? From looking at other polar bears? Do they see their reflections in the water and think, "I'd be invisible if not for that." That seems like a lot of thinking for a bear.

I loved this film!!! No car crashes, chase scenes, drug using or foul language and I still loved it!  Based on real life events and directed by Steven Soderbergh, Matt Damon is Mark Whitacre, the Vice President at an agricultural company, who decides to "blow the whistle" on his employers and their illegal price fixing practices. He joins with the FBI, Scott Bakula as Agent Brian Shepard and Joel McCale as agent Bob Herndon and begins an elaborate operation of recording conversations and meetings to strengthen the case. However, the FBI doesn't know that their star witness is Bipolar and his stories keep spinning a web so elaborate that even he can't keep track of what's real.
Through the film, Whitacre keeps voicing over these offhand comments (like the one above) and it makes no sense until we see him spinning out at the end of the movie. His mind travels so fast and after a while he can't keep up with it. His lies are so second nature he doesn't appear to even think about them, nonetheless their consequences. It's an amazing show of the unweaving of a brain. Damon is brilliant in this role. One degree to the right and it would have been far too over the top. He gave a good balance of reality and insanity and made it really fun to watch. This film is sassy, spirited and smart.

Big bite: Loved the film and loved Matt Damon! A smart and interesting film.