The Informant stars Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, a high-ranking employee of a large agricultural firm (a lysine firm to be precise). Mark on his face does not seem to be that bad of a guy, the problem is that, like many other high-profile businessmen, he is enthralled by the prospect of being a rich corporate tycoon. While Mark Whitacre has seemingly good intentions, he plays dirty like many other of the industrial heads depicted in the movie. Nonetheless, Whitacre has a tendency to lie a lot which makes him sort of a basket case. However, Mark’s character flaw is not lying but rather his honesty. This ironic aspect is something audience members may not be able to fully appreciate nor understand at first glance.
Mark eventually gets taken down with a harsh prison sentence not as a result of his lies, but because he was honest about the issues that were most important. While throughout the movie Mark gets characterized as “a liar,” his lies involve lying about particular details such as how much money he accepted in kickbacks—was it 7 million, 9 million, 12 million? He may lie about the nature of price fixing, thoughts on industrial recession, and how clients treat him; however, these issues are miniscule compared to bigger picture issues. When it comes to the substance of matters, Mark is quite honest which eventually leads to his fall and his nine years in prison. For example, Mark will truthfully admit to corporate price fixing schemes but lie on the methods it is conducted or admit to accepting kickbacks but lie as to how much money in kickbacks he accepted. It should be clear that the most important issues at hand are the fact that he accepted kickbacks and that price fixing schemes existed in the first place both of which he honestly admitted to. The myriad of lies that he told involve the details of these vital schemes, which are far less important that the schemes itself. With this in mind I could really appreciate the depth of Mark’s character that director Stephen Soderbergh accurately captured.
By the same token there were several aspects I did not like about the film virtually all of which involved the style in which the film was presented. The picture quality was very poor and in the opening scene the image of Mark is depicted with blurs. While the film tried to be old-fashion, the film went far too back in that the action took place in the early nineties. Perhaps the director was trying to add humor to this, but it certainly did not work. At best it was overly corny and at worst it causes eye irritation. Additionally, the illumination in the movie was not very good. The persistent high-key lighting with low contrast in the entirety of various scenes was a bit annoying. Let's face it, who wants to watch a screen with a bland yellow tint meshed in a single picture. This is anything but appealing. Overall, The Informant gets a rating of 6.5 out of 10 the movie is solid, but you should not go too far out of your way to see it.
0 comments
Post a Comment