Review: THE INFORMANT!
Matt Damon (THE BOURNE IDENTITY
) is hands down one of the most talented actors working today. If you had asked me ten years ago if I would say that, I would laugh instead of answer. However, over the past decade he has really proven himself and truly become not only a household name, but also a star. Director Steven Soderbergh (OCEAN'S ELEVEN
) chose wisely when casting Damon as Archer Daniels Midland senior executive Mark Whitacre in THE INFORMANT!, because only he could pull off playing a completely self-diluted man with such charm.THE INFORMANT is the loosely based true story
of Whitacre’s two year gig as an FBI informant reporting on price fixing in the corn-product business. He spins entire stories about corporate bribery and blackmail, corruption, and embezzlement coming out of ADM. The most impressive part is that he lied about the whole thing—and people believed him. The film builds slowly as we watch Damon’s bumbling fool realize he’s caught red-faced in a lie and then convince whomever he’s talking to that something even more unbelievable is the truth. It’s fun watching him start with a very tiny lie and see it grow into a multimillion dollar scheme. By the end of the film, I started to believe Whitacre never spoke the truth. He lived in an imaginary world of his own making.THE INFORMANT! was not a Soderbergh masterpiece by any stretch of the word, however it was enjoyable to watch Damon scramble around as Whitacre. The choice to film the entire movie in high fluorescent lighting was smart, because it captured the bleakness and uniformity of corporate America. And Damon’s subtle mannerisms, such as pulling on his toupee when he was questioned by the FBI about ADM price-fixing, were hilarious and well-crafted. In a time when watching corrupt corporate executives get their comeuppance generates great catharsis, THE INFORMANT! does not fail.
posted by Reel Vixen at
9:30 AM
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and fell madly in love with Stefan Salvatore. As I grew and reread the series, I switched teams to Damon (I like my men a little rougher and tougher). I love this series so much, so naturally I was over the moon when I found out a TV show was in the works. I was incredibly excited to see how The CW could take one of the most romantic young adult vampire book series and make it something we haven’t seen before (cough cough 
). 
DAWSON’S CREEK), who I think is the perfect choice for the show, and director Marcus Siega. A collaboration between these two almost guarantees fast-paced, wordy, teen angst, and that’s exactly what we get. I’m aware that the books and show will be incredibly different (I’m loving the Ellena on the show, not so much from the books), that’s what will make it fun to watch. This isn’t 
or even Twilight, but it’s a version of the vampire mythology that we haven’t seen since the sensual heydays of 
(season two to be exact). We will get a new dose every week and every week you will have to read my blatherings about the show. CONGRATS!
had hired two new female players. I was super exited about this because that meant there would be 6 women on the show! I cannot express enough how awesome this is. Well, this morning my dreams of woman domination of SNL were crushed when it turns out that yes, Michaels hired two new women, BUT this came at the price of firing Casey Wilson and Michaela Watkins! Watkins was one of my favorites of the last season with her Bitch Pleaze skit and hilarious portrayal of Hoda Kotb. And Wilson, a stand-out on the show has such subtle comedic timing that you didn't realize you were laughing until your pants were already wet--yes, I'm saying this from experience.
