Thursday, September 17, 2009

Damon Brings the Laughs In Soderbergh's Funniest Film To Date!

THE INFORMANT!
Rated R for language.
108 minutes
Warner Bros. Pictures
**** out of 5

Matt Damon and Steven Soderbergh have each made very different films over the years and Damon has now been in five of Soderbergh's. Soderbergh is more known for his bigger titles such as “Erin Brockovich,” “Traffic,” and the “Oceans” trilogy but that may be about it. While two of those five were Oscar nominated, Soderbergh is probably much more well known within the indie art house crowds. From his debut film “Sex, Lies and Videotape” which played as part of the 1989 Sundance Film Festival in my local Park City, thru films such as “Out of Sight,” “The Limey,” “Full Frontal,” “Solaris,” “Bubble,” and parts “One” and “Two” of the “Che” films along with his most recent “The Girlfriend Experience” starring adult film star Sasha Grey.

Matt Damon on the other hand, aside from his helping with the “Oceans” films is obviously much better known. First winning attention as the star and Oscar winning co-writer alongside best friend Ben Affleck for their screenplay “Good Will Hunting,” Damon has given many amazing performances even when starring in some mediocre films. He also usually wins huge laughs making cameo appearances in another good friend’s films for writer/director Kevin Smith. From his first film appearances in tiny roles in films like “Mystic Pizza,” “Field of Dreams,” “School Ties,” and “Courage Under Fire,” it was the year of 1997 when he finally flew onto everyone’s radar with the already mentioned “GWH” and the adaptation of “The Rainmaker.” Since then he has managed to prove himself capable of doing just about anything as he started taking on mostly starring roles but never letting himself be too big to fill the shoes of a great supporting character. Just to name some from over the years there’s “Saving Private Ryan,” “Rounders,” “Dogma,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “The Legend of Bagger Vance,” “Finding Forrester,” “All the Pretty Horses,” “Stuck On You,” “The Brothers Grimm,” “Syriana,” “The Departed,” “The Good Shepard,” and the “Bourne” films but has now teamed up yet again with Soderbergh for a hilarious trip through one man’s deliriously riotous thought process in “The Informant!”

*Let it also be known that he’s never one to shy away from making fun of himself as he also has made numerous appearances on “The Jimmy Kimmel Show” in hilarious bits whether it’s f*cking Sarah Silverman or defending himself as the true star of the “Bourne” films opposite Kimmel’s security guard Guillermo Rodriguez. Let alone his hilarious turn in “Euro Trip” singing about how poor “Scotty Doesn’t Know.” I also had high hopes as the title features one of my favorite things, an exclamation point - “Airplane!”, “Top Secret!”, “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” and “Hot Shots!” just to name some of my favorites.

“The Informant!” reads on its book cover, “A True Story… Based on a Tattle Tale” and though this was never made reference to in the film it is certainly hilarious and they do start the film with a “disclaimer” about it being based on fact which reminds me of the beginnings to some other rambunctious films, “Anchorman” and “Talladega Nights.” The film is the story of ADM worker Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) and though it isn’t made mention until the end and is played as a plot point there’s no way it can be considered a spoiler to tell you now that the man has a serious case of bi-polarism and to me seemed very A.D.D. The thoughts running through this man’s head will drive you batty if you weren’t paying attention. I had no idea that the movie was going to have voice-over narration but it was a spectacular surprise and makes the film much more than it is being advertised as.

In Decatur, IL 1992, Whitacre schemes up a way of bringing attention to his employers through lies and deceit aimed at everyone from his company to the FBI to himself. The man has no idea what is fact and what is fiction and most of the time he seems to be making it up as he goes. He alleges that his company is involved in price fixing with the Japanese and eventually the FBI finally somehow gains enough evidence to actually make a case against the company as we find out that at least that aspect really is true but I don’t think Whitacre really knew if it was when he sought out to bring down the company in hopes of being made the new CEO.

Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns (Damon’s “The Bourne Ultimatum”) allow the film play out at a leisurely pace for a comedy but instill so much dialogue that it plays more like a zany screwball from days long gone by. It takes place through most of the 90s, is filmed like a 70s drama and uses the rousing and silly music of 60s action films harkening back to the first James Bond's. The fact that these films are referenced to at some point was by no means accidental whether it was said in real life or not. If you really want to know what to expect going in imagine if you threw “Burn After Reading,” “Duplicity,” any of the .007 films along with a dash of some Marx Brothers absurdist dialogue into a blender then you'll be able to get a taste of what you’re in for. If any of that mixture sounds like it could be too much for one movie, well you’d be wrong, so there.

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