All moviesThe Informant!

Rated:

R (for language)

Running time:

108 minutes

Synopsis:

What was Mark Whitacre 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.

Release date:

September 18, 2009

Website:

http://www.theinformantmovie.com/

Capsule review:

Steven Soderbergh’s truth-based film about a compulsive liar wavers uneasily between corporate thriller and screwball comedy, with Matt Damon as an agribusiness exec who blows a whistle and his own horn at the same time.