MOVIE OF THE WEEK (9/18/09): THE INFORMANT!

Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) is a man with a lot of reasons to smile ... as long as he doesn't get outed as THE INFORMANT!
Credit: Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.

KEY CAST MEMBERS: Matt Damon, Melanie Lynskey, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Tom Papa, Tom Wilson, Rick Overton, Allan Havey, Patton Oswalt and Tony Hale

WRITER: Scott Z. Burns (screenplay); Kurt Eichenwald (book)

DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh

WEB SITE: theinformantmovie.warnerbros.com

THE PLOT:Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) is a guy who likes to be positive. He has a great job, a loving wife (Melanie Lynskey) and more cars than he knows what to do with. But Mark has a problem, or sees one, rather: His employer is being blackmailed by a mysterious Asian interest into paying a ransom to quit sabotaging their factory ... Or so it would seem.

See, that's not really Mark's problem. Mark's problem is that his company, Archer Daniels Midland (or ADM for short), is participating in a price-fixing scheme with some other companies in their industry and he doesn't think it's right. So Mark decides to do something about it. Once the FBI comes to check out the blackmail scam, he lets special agent Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula) in on what's going on and agrees to wear a wire to catch his bosses and colleagues (Tom Papa, Tom Wilson, Rick Overton) in the act.

But why is he so willing to take down his company? One can only find out by watching as everyone around Mark Whitacre - including himself - discovers who he really is.

THE TAKE:Matt Damon is best known for two things: Being really good in dramatic roles and being Jason Bourne. With The Informant!, however, he shows that he has a good comedic range ... Ironically in a film that stars a lot of stand-up comedians playing serious roles.

Be that as it may, Damon is the central figure that makes The Informant! - which is convoluted as hell once the story starts to progress (but given Whitacre's life, director Steven Soderbergh really has no say in the matter) - work. His balancing act - playing a man as sane when he clearly, clearly is acting in a not-so-sane way - is what makes the character work. In being the rare actor who can make you believe them in multiple types of roles, Damon really excels as Matt Whitacre, throwing himself against his usual grain in a fashion similar to Tom Cruise in his brief yet excellent role in Tropic Thunder with the same hilarious results.

While the rest of the cast's acting isn't going to win them any awards as a whole, their reactions to Whitacre's actions (especially Joel McHale - here's hoping Community isn't a worse version of Parks and Recreation, the first season of which was a less-humorous version of the Americanized take on The Office ... anyway ...) are priceless. For the more things spiral out of control, they reactions only serve to enhance Damon's performance.

And with a story this crazy, The Informant! needs a team who can relay the story with a straight face; Damon and Soderberg prove that they are the right men for the job.

RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):