''The Informant!'' is a 2009 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

crime comedy film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by Steven Soderbergh. Written by Scott Z. Burns, the film stars

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...

as the titular informant named Mark Whitacre, as well as

Scott Bakula Scott Stewart Bakula (; born October 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in two science-fiction television series: as Sam Beckett on '' Quantum Leap'' and as Captain Jonathan Archer on '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. For ''Quantu ...

, Joel McHale and

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress widely known for her portrayals of complex women in several independent films and television shows and also known for her command of American dialects. Lynskey is the recipi ...

. It depicts Whitacre's involvement as a

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

in the lysine price-fixing conspiracy of the mid-1990s, based on the 2000 nonfiction book '' The Informant'', by journalist Kurt Eichenwald. Released on September 18, 2009, ''The Informant!'' received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for Matt Damon's performance and the film's comedic yet ironic tone, although the latter has also been a point of criticism from other critics. The film was also a commercial success, grossing $41.8 million on a $22 million budget.

Plot

Mark Whitacre, a rising star at the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) office in Decatur, Illinois, during the early 1990s, blows the whistle on the company’s price-fixing tactics at the urging of his wife Ginger. One night in November 1992, Whitacre confesses to

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

special agent Brian Shepard that ADM executives—including Whitacre himself—had routinely met with competitors to fix the price of lysine, an additive used in the commercial livestock industry. Whitacre secretly gathers hundreds of hours of video and audio over several years to present to the FBI. He assists in gathering evidence by clandestinely taping the company’s activity in business meetings at various locations around the globe such as

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

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, and

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, eventually collecting enough evidence of collaboration and

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...

to warrant a raid of ADM. Whitacre’s good deed dovetails with his own major infractions, while his internal, secret struggle with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

seems to take over his exploits. The bulk of the film focuses on Whitacre's meltdown resulting from the pressures of wearing a wire and organizing surveillance for the FBI for three years, instigated by Whitacre's reaction, in increasingly manic overlays, to various trivial magazine articles he reads. In a stunning turn of events immediately following the covert portion of the case, headlines around the world report Whitacre had embezzled $9 million from his own company during the same period of time he was secretly working with the FBI and taping his co-workers, while simultaneously aiming to be elected as ADM CEO following the arrest and conviction of the remaining upper management members. In the ensuing chaos, Whitacre appears to shift his trust and randomly destabilize his relationships with Special Agents Shepard and Herndon and numerous attorneys in the process. Authorities at ADM begin investigating the forged papertrail Whitacre had built to cover his own deeds. After being confronted with evidence of his fraud, Whitacre's defensive claims begin to spiral out of control, including an accusation of assault and

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

against Agent Shepard and the FBI, which had made a substantial move to distance their case from Whitacre entirely. Because of this major infraction and Whitacre’s bizarre behavior, he is sentenced to a prison term three times as long as that meted out to the white-collar criminals he helped to catch. In the epilogue, Agent Herndon visits Whitacre in prison as he videotapes a futile appeal to seek a presidential pardon. Overweight, balding and psychologically beaten after his years long ordeal, Whitacre is eventually released from prison, with Ginger waiting to greet him.

Cast

as Mark Whitacre, '' Archer Daniels Midland'' executive *

as FBI Special Agent Brian Shepard * Joel McHale as FBI Special Agent Robert Herndon *

as Ginger Whitacre * Ann Cusack as Robin Mann *

Ann Dowd Ann Dowd (born January 30, 1956) is an American actress. She has played supporting roles in numerous films, including ''Green Card'' (1990), ''Lorenzo's Oil'' (1992), ''Philadelphia'' (1993), '' Garden State'' (2004), '' The Manchurian Candidate' ...

as FBI Special Agent Kate Medford * Thomas F. Wilson as Mark Cheviron *

Tom Papa Thomas Papa Jr. (born November 10, 1968) is an American comedian, actor, and radio host. He hosts the Sirius XM Satellite Radio show ''Come to Papa'' and, in July 2019, he and Fortune Feimster started hosting the Sirius XM show ''What a Joke wit ...

as Mick Andreas *

Rick Overton Richard Overton (born August 10, 1954) is an American screenwriter, actor and comedian. His writing credits include '' Dennis Miller Live'', and his acting credits include ''Beverly Hills Cop'', ''Groundhog Day'' and ''Mrs. Doubtfire''. Life an ...

as Terry Wilson *

Allan Havey Allan Havey (born September 19, 1954) is an American stand-up comic and actor. He started his career as a comedian in New York City in 1981. Overview Havey made his national debut in 1986 on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' and made many ap ...

as FBI Supervisor Dean Paisley *

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

as Ed Herbst * Craig Ricci Shaynak as Discouraged Foreman * Scott Adsit as Sid Hulse *

Eddie Jemison Edward Francis Jemison, Jr. (born November 25, 1963) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as Livingston Dell in the '' Ocean's'' film trilogy and Mickey Duka in ''The Punisher'', as well as the television series '' H ...

as Kirk Schmidt *

Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...

as Aubrey Daniel, ADM attorney *

Arden Myrin Arden VanAmringe Myrin () is an American actress and comedian. Myrin was a cast member on the Netflix series '' Insatiable'', playing the role of Regina Sinclair, and starred in the world premiere of Steve Martin's play ''Meteor Shower'' at the ...

as Sarah Scott *

Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his role in the Fox comedy series '' Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth. Hale played Gary Walsh on the HBO comedy ''Veep'' from 2012 until ...

as James Epstein, Whitacre's attorney *

Andrew Daly Andrew J. Daly (born April 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred as Forrest MacNeil on the Comedy Central series ''Review'', and had a supporting role in the HBO comedy series '' Eastbound & Down'' as Terrence Cutler. ...

as Marty Allison, ADM vice-president * Frank Welker as Mr. Whitacre * Candy Clark as Mrs. Whitacre *

Dick Smothers Richard Remick Smothers (born November 20, 1938) is an American actor, comedian, composer, and musician. He was half of the musical comedy team the Smothers Brothers, with his older brother Tom. Life and career Smothers was born in New York Ci ...

as Judge Harold Baker *

Tom Smothers Thomas Bolyn Smothers III (born February 2, 1937) is an American comedian, composer and musician, best known as half of the musical comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick. Early life Smothers was born in 1937 at ...

Dwayne Andreas Dwayne Orville Andreas (March 4, 1918 – November 16, 2016), was one of the leading farm industrialists of the 20th century. He was former CEO and chairman of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Under his leadership he turned ADM into the larg ...

Richard Steven Horvitz Richard Steven Horvitz (born July 29, 1966) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his voice work in animation and video games. His voice credits include the original Alpha 5 on ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'', ''Power Rangers Zeo'' an ...

as Bob Zaiderman *

Bob Zany Bob Zany (born Robert Earl Tetreault; September 11, 1961) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for performing with his trademark cigar on stage. According to an article found on his web page, he "stuff a cigar into a plastic b ...

as John Dowd, attorney * Paul F. Tompkins as FBI Agent Anthony D'Angelo * Lucas McHugh Carroll as Alexander Whitacre

Production

In 2002, after completing ''

Ocean's Eleven ''Ocean's Eleven'' is a 2001 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Ted Griffin. The first installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy, it is a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film of the same name. The ...

'', Soderbergh announced his intent to adapt the book '' The Informant'' by Kurt Eichenwald, a former journalist for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Scott Z. Burns wrote the script based on the book. Production began in May 2008 in Decatur, Illinois. Filming was also done at the former Whitacre mansion in

Moweaqua, Illinois Moweaqua is a village in Shelby and Christian counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,764 at the 2020 census. Geography Moweaqua is located at . According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Moweaqua has a total area of , all lan ...

, a small town about 25 miles from Decatur, and at Illini Country Club in Springfield, Illinois. Some exterior shots were done in Mesa, Arizona, in November 2008. Other portions of the film were shot in the Coachella Valley, California. The film was released on September 18, 2009. Damon gained 20–30 pounds for the role in order to look more like Whitacre. For the film Soderbergh cast a number of stand up comedians in prominent and supporting roles, including

, Joel McHale,

, Paul F. Tompkins, the

Smothers Brothers The Smothers Brothers are Thomas ("Tom" – born February 2, 1937) and Richard ("Dick" – born November 20, 1938), American folk singers, musicians, and comedians. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on acoustic gu ...

and

Release

The film was released on September 18, 2009 in the United States.

Box office

The film opened at #2 behind '' Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'' with $10,545,000. As of December 17, 2009, the film had grossed $33,316,821 domestically and $41,771,168 worldwide. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the film opened at #10 with £179,612 from the opening weekend. It was the third highest new entry after ''

A Serious Man ''A Serious Man'' is a 2009 American black comedy-drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1967, the film stars Michael Stuhlbarg as a Minnesota Jewish man whose life crumbles both professionally and pe ...

'' and '' The Twilight Saga: New Moon''.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported a 79% approval rating, based on 230 reviews with an average score of 6.8/10. The site's critics consensus states: "A charismatic turn by star Matt Damon and a consistently ironic tone boost this quietly funny satire about a corporate whistle-blower." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on reviews from 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert awarded the film four out of four stars, claiming "''The Informant!'' is fascinating in the way it reveals two levels of events, not always visible to each other or to the audience." While giving the film the grade of a B, ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' noted that "Soderbergh has chosen to apply an attitude of arch whoopee, a greasy veneer of mirth over what is, no joke, a serious mess of malfeasance and mental instability," concluding, "Soderbergh ultimately made the choice to abandon interesting, dispassionate empathy for the more quick-fix payoff of amusement."

Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, and, in response to critics of the film's comic tone, commented, "Laugh you will at ''The Informant!,'' but it's way too real to laugh off." Leah Rozen of ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' magazine gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, saying, "

amon Amon may refer to: Mythology * Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra * Aamon, a Goetic demon People Momonym * Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah Given name * Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American pu ...

s a hoot, and so is the movie."

Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...

of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' also praised Damon's performance, calling his interpretation of Whitacre, "The wacky little brother of

Erin Brockovich Erin Brockovich (née Pattee; born June 22, 1960) is an American legal clerk, consumer advocate, and environmental activist who, despite her lack of education in the law, was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Compan ...

" (whose life was also adapted by Soderbergh into a film).

Accolades

The film received nominations for multiple awards, including a

Satellite Award The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Matt Damon as well as a nomination from the

Detroit Film Critics Society The Detroit Film Critics Society is a film critic organization based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 2007, and comprises a group of over twenty film critics. To become a member, the critic must have reviewed at least twelve f ...

. Damon was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

References

External links

* * * *
''This American Life'' #168: The Fix Is In
– interview with Mark Whitacre and the book's author, Kurt Eichenwald, from ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internatio ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Informant! 2009 comedy films 2009 films 2000s crime comedy films American business films American crime comedy films Archer Daniels Midland Biographical films about businesspeople Crime films based on actual events Films about bipolar disorder Films about security and surveillance Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Steven Soderbergh Films produced by Gregory Jacobs Films scored by Marvin Hamlisch Films set in Illinois Films set in Missouri Films set in 1992 Films set in the 1990s Films shot in Arizona Films shot in Illinois Films shot in France Films shot in Hawaii Films shot in Missouri Films with screenplays by Scott Z. Burns Films shot in Switzerland Participant (company) films This American Life Warner Bros. films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films