The Informant! (2009)

The U.S. government decides to go after an agro-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president-turned-informant Mark Whitacre.

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writers:

Scott Z. Burns (screenplay), Kurt Eichenwald (book)

Stars:

Matt Damon, Tony Hale, Patton Oswalt

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Damon	...	Mark Whitacre
Lucas McHugh Carroll	...	Alexander Whitacre (as Lucas Carroll)
Eddie Jemison	...	Kirk Schmidt
Rusty Schwimmer	...	Liz Taylor
Craig Ricci Shaynak	...	Discouraged Foreman
Tom Papa	...	Mick Andreas
Rick Overton	...	Terry Wilson
Melanie Lynskey	...	Ginger Whitacre
Thomas F. Wilson	...	Mark Cheviron (as Tom Wilson)
Scott Bakula	...	FBI Special Agent Brian Shepard
Scott Adsit	...	Sid Hulse
Ann Dowd	...	FBI Special Agent Kate Medford
Allan Havey	...	FBI Special Agent Dean Paisley
Howie Johnson	...	Rusty Williams
Joel McHale	...	FBI Special Agent Bob Herndon

Storyline

Mark Whitacre has worked for lysine developing company ADM for many years and has even found his way into upper management. But nothing has prepared him for the job he is about to undertake - being a spy for the FBI. Unwillingly pressured into working as an informant against the illegal price-fixing activities of his company, Whitacre gradually adopts the idea that he's a true secret agent. But as his incessant lies keep piling up, his world begins crashing down around him.

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Plot Keywords:

company | lysine | fbi | price fixing | meeting | 

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Taglines:

Based on a tattle-tale

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Germany]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 2009 (Canada)

Also Known As:

L'infiltré!

Filming Locations:

Blue Mound, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$21,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£179,612 (UK) (20 November 2009)

Gross:

$33,313,582 (USA) (11 December 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Participant Media, Groundswell Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an NPR radio interview, Matt Damon said that Steven Soderbergh, to get Mark Whitacre's final apology to the judge just right, directed Damon to perform the lines as if he were accepting an Academy Award. (Damon said it was an example of "perfect direction".)

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Goofs

The establishing shot for the first scene at Brian Shepard's office states that the office is in Springfield, Illinois, but shots of the door to the FBI to Shepherd's FBI field office says Decatur, Illinois, where ADM is located.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mark Whitacre: [voiceover] You know that orange juice you have every morning? You know what's in that? Corn. And you know what's in the maple syrup you put on your pancakes? You know what makes it taste so good? Corn. And when you're good and help with the trash, you know what makes the big, green bags biodegradable?
Mark Whitacre: [to his son] Do you?
Alexander Whitacre: Uh-huh. Corn.
Mark Whitacre: Corn *starch*. But Daddy's company didn't come up with that one. DuPont did.

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Crazy Credits

Prologue: "While this motion picture is based on real events, certain incidents and characters are composites, and dialog has been dramatized. So there."

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Connections

References The Twilight Zone (1985)

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Soundtracks

Trust Me
Music by Marvin Hamlisch
Lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
Produced and Performed by Steve Tyrell
Steve Tyrell appears courtesy of E1 Music

User Reviews

Offbeat movie featuring an excellent performance by Matt Damon

Offbeat movie that, with limited success, tries to make light of some serious stuff involving corporate corruption at the highest managerial levels. What makes this even more significant is that the events dramatized in this movie are supposedly based on actual events which, if true, calls into question the reliability of witnesses in criminal investigations who themselves are criminals. Embezzlement and fraud are serious crimes, but when a person committing such serious crimes becomes a star witness for a full-blown government investigation targeting a major international corporation, then this cast a huge, dark shadow over the credibility of criminal investigation itself. This movie is also about to what lengths government officials are willing to believe such unsavory informants even as these informants continue to flagrantly break numerous laws. Matt Damon gives an excellent performance as the main character, Mark Whitacre, a man who on his own initiative feeds the government information while he continues to embezzle huge sums of money. The movie shows how the government almost becomes complicit in Whitacre's's criminal behavior and how it causes an incredible and irreparable amount of damage. Does being an informant absolve one of guilt for crimes committed? Watch the movie and find out.