More commentary and context tomorrow, but man, we cannot wait for this. It looks like a blast. In the meantime, here’s one of the larger synopsis for this upcoming Steven Soderbergh black comedy. You gotta love how much weight Matt Damon puts on (would Tom Cruise ever pull a move like this? Will Smith?) and just how committed his performance appears to making his character seem like a total buffoon. When was the last time a major star put on serious weight for a role?
What was Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) thinking? A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Whitacre suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company’s multi-national price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI, Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the common man and handed a promotion. But before all that can happen, the FBI needs evidence, so Whitacre eagerly agrees to wear a wire and carry a hidden tape recorder in his briefcase, imagining himself as a kind of de facto secret agent. Unfortunately for the FBI, their lead witness hasn’t been quite so forthcoming about helping himself to the corporate coffers. Whitacre’s ever-changing account frustrates the agents and threatens the case against ADM as it becomes almost impossible to decipher what is real and what is the product of Whitacre’s rambling imagination. Based on the true story of the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history.
The film also stars, Tony Hale (Buster from “Arrested Development”), Scott Bakula, Melanie Lynskey (Kate Winslet’s other half in “Heavenly Creatures”) and Joel McHale from E!’s weekly comedy pop culture commentary series, “The Soup.” The score was also written by venerable composer Marvin Hamlisch (“Take the Money And Run,” “The Sting,” “Ordinary People”), who before 2008’s documentary, “Every Little Step,” hadn’t had a feature film composing credit since 1996. We’re hoping he bring some ironic schmaltz to the proceedings.
“The Informant” hits theaters October 9th. Can’t remember if we put this in our TIFF picks, but it seems like something that would be there.
