The Informant - B

In theaters. Rated PG-13, 108 minutes. Trailer.

Starring Matt Damon and directed by Stephen Soderbergh, The Informant is a solid film with some laughs and even a few poignant moments. Damon is the ultimate midwestern tool, Mark Whitacre, raking in cash at ArcherDanielMidland (major corn producer) when he decides to go undercover with the FBI to expose price-fixing. His audible inner-dialogue and horrible undercover skills are the centerpiece of this weirdly-toned comedy. Click below for more INFORMANT:

Whitacre comes across as an awshucks guy riding in on a white-horse, but as the investigation (led by Scott Bakula and the Soup and Community's Joel McHale) widens and grows more serious, his own flaws become more and more apparent. We never really get to know Whitacre behind his own facade. The film unravels as you go, so the plot can't really be divulged without ruining it.

Damon is great as the bumbling Whitacre, capturing his self-delusion and misplaced confidence in his bulked up frame. Bakula and McHale are also great as FBI agents cast as the straight man (and in the same position as the audience - trying to figure this guy/situation out). McHale is surprisingly serious and it works despite his smarmy disposition. Buster Bluth is solid as Whitacre's lawyer and several other Soderbergh regulars fill in along the way.

This one is good throughout, but never really grabbed me. It is quietly funny, and might get better upon a repeat viewing - it feels like a Soderbergh directed Coen script.

Bonus - Matt Damon impersonating Matthew McConaughey here.