The Informant!
The FBI had been looking at ADM for some time. When Whitacre (Matt Damon) contacted special agents Sheperd (Scott Bakula) and Herndon (Joel McHale), it seemed a lucky break for the Bureau: a high level whistle blower was able to provide the evidence needed for even higher level indictments. There were some of the usual glitches: nervous "spy", faulty surveillance equipment, unwitting subjects sitting in front of hidden cameras, but there was also the more relevant problem of the spy himself, a deeply troubled soul who really saw himself as a crusader, a white-hatted hero who would be a champion for even the common man who got hoodwinked even at the grocery store when he bought yet another product laced with high fructose corn syrup. Perhaps this piety wouldn't be a problem, unless of course our hero was simultaneously trying to rise the corporate ladder at ADM. Whitacre is a real person, by the way. It all sounds like a perfect segment for NPR's This American Life, right? In fact, it was in 2000! Truth, as it is said, is quite often stranger than fiction.
If you've seen the trailer for director Steven Soderbergh's THE INFORMANT!, you know as much as I've provided thus far. The details are far more labyrinthine than what I or the trailer editors have let on, however. The story also does not end there, but rather we learn just how multiplicitous Whitacre was. Not only was he playing on both teams, but also running a clandestine embezzlement all the while. It works, because he comes off as just so affable, kind of like Frank Abagnale, the center of another true story brought to celluloid in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. With the FBI, Whitacre plays the bewildwered everyman quite well, articulating the stressful existence of being a mole, crying that he still has to work at ADM and provide for his family. Too bad the FBI never noticed he had 8 luxury cars in his garage until it was too late.....
As the film progresses, the screenplay also reveals more and more about the enigmatic Whitacre, just what a sheister he was. It's fascinating how in the dark we are in the first reels, as snowed as all the other characters are. Then we get to spend the more revealing moments alone with him. Why is he messing up his hair? Ripping his sleeve? Cutting up a doctor's letter and pasting certain sentences onto another sheet? When we eventually learn why Whitacre acts the way he does, habitually lying as naturally as others would breathe, it's no surprise. But it leaves lots of unresolved inquiries: how engineered were his actions? Why did he justify them? Did he really care about anyone else? Was he merely in some serious denial? Was he afraid of confrontation? Was he a fatalist?
The answer is probably "yes" to all of the above. In addition to Abagnale, Whitcare reminded me of Stephen Glass, the infamous writer for The New Republic who fabricated interviews (and even people) to concoct colorful articles. His so-bizarre-it-has-to-be-true tale was documented/fictionalized in 2003's SHATTERED GLASS. Glass exhibited some alarming misanthropic behavior, a delusional passive-aggressiveness that smelled psoitively pathological. Whitacre doesn't seem quite as cunning, though one never knows. Even at the end of THE INFORMANT!, after he is being videotaped in an attempt to receive a shorter prison sentence via governor pardon, he quotes yet another different figure to the FBI as to exactly how much he swindled from his former company. "Eleven and a half million? I thought it was nine and a half, Mark", Herndon asks. Whitacre again puts on his game face, though far less convincing then before, and states that the extra two mil was interest accrued. Uh huh.
How about Whitacre's compulsion to talk to everyone? Execs, the Feds, the press. He can't help himself. Perhaps it's therapy to him. Like some sort of secular confessional? Confounding any potential positive in all of this, is that his loose lips sabotage everyone's plans. For example, he tips off his colleagues when he knows the FBI will come storming. Isn't he supposed to be working with the Feds? And why is he telling everyone he is adopted? More evidence that his heroism was hard won?
Soderbergh, to my delight, has made his Next Film. Recall my entry a few weeks ago, stating that I feel the director has done little else than putz around with his talents this decade. THE INFORMANT! is a more disciplined effort, a straightforward movie that is minimally "directed", allowing this fascinating story to unfold naturally, and Damon's on-the-money portrayal to drive it. Matt put on several extra pounds, as well as a comically cheesy hairiece and mustache to embody this character. The supporting cast is well chosen, with several past stars of TV (Bakula, McHale, Tom and Dick Smothers) and quirky character actors of film (Candy Clark, Thomas F. Wilson), embodying this sorta retro vibe Soderbergh has working. The film takes place in the 90s, but has a distinctive late 60s/early 70s look and feel. The very first shot is of a miniature reel-to-reel recorder. Then we see opening credit typeface so common in that time period. We continue with a soft focus, making things seem distorted and dreamlike-from the harsh toxicity of fluorescent lights to the lush sunlight outdoors.
And Marvin Hamlisch did the score! Seriously? Seriously! It's just as peppy as the countless earlier ones he did. Just as jarring, too. Very playful use of piano and even kazoos. It is but another tool Soderbergh is using to keep the film off balance, lest it threaten to become another serious True Story (like the director's own just fair ERIN BROCKOVICH). The wacky score often occurs during/following Whitacre's odd voiceovers, a series of random musings on things he's read. Very effective at conveying, or at least attempting to convey, just what is going on in the troubled head of Mark Whitacre. What that really is/was is anyone's hypothesis. But even certifiable cases live on: Whitacre currently runs his own company. What I wouldn't do to interview one of his current clients.
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