The word unbelievable conjures up many images.  It could mean unbelievably good, or unelievably bad, or simply not credible. In the case of Mark Whitacre a real life corporate executive who had impressive Ivy League credentials, bio-chemistry skills, and multiple languages, it means the latter, though the whole true story about him falls under the rubric of incredible in its usual sense.

I must confess to being a big Matt Damon fan. He can really act, his fellow Boston buddy Ben Afleck, not so much.  For the role of Mark Whitacre, we are now regaled with a pudgy  Matt Damon, who as the Oceans movies showed, can certainly play the awkward geeky guy to the hilt.  What a contrast from his role in the Bourne movies.  

‘The Informant’ is billed as a comedy or better said satire, and the music of Marvin Hamlisch and the cameo surprise appearances of both Tommy and Dickie Smothers push the movie in that direction as well.   But when it turns out that Mark Whitacre is a pathological liar, and possibly bi-polar, that kind of puts a damper on the attempted humor of the film.    If bi-polar means a person capable of constantly playing both ends against the middle, to his own advantage, all the while being incredibly naive, then Damon has nailed it in this performance.  In fact, this is an enormously sad story, made sadder by the fact that it is a true story of graft, corruption and scandal in agra-business out there in the cornbelt of Illinois.

‘The Informant’ is R rated, I suppose because of the seriousness of the content and a bit of language. It can’t be because of sex or violence, as there really isn’t any in this movie. It rolls along well enough for about two hours, and we even learn of Mark Acre’s real life fate after ‘doing time’  at the end of the movie.  Let’s just say that  real life is much stranger and more interesting than fiction. 

Here is Warner Brother’s own synopsis of the plot—

“What was Mark
Whitacre thinking? A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels
Midland (ADM), Whitacre (Matt Damon) 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 (Scott Bakula and Joel
McHale) and threatens the case against ADM as it becomes almost
impossible to decipher what is real and what is the product of
Whitacre’s active imagination.

Academy Award® winner Matt Damon (“Good Will Hunting,” the
“Bourne” movies) stars in “The Informant!,” based on the true story of
the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history. The film
also stars Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Melanie Lynskey.

“The Informant!” is directed by Academy Award® winner Steven
Soderbergh (“Traffic”) from a screenplay by Scott Z. Burns, based on
the book The Informant (A True Story), written by Kurt Eichenwald. The
film is produced by Gregory Jacobs, Jennifer Fox, Michael Jaffe, Howard
Braunstein and Kurt Eichenwald. George Clooney, Jeff Skoll and Michael
London served as executive producers, with Michael Polaire
co-producing.

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes production
designer Doug Meerdink, editor Stephen Mirrione and costume designer
Shoshana Rubin. The music is by multiple Oscar® winner and nominee
Marvin Hamlisch (“The Sting,” “The Way We Were”).

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Participant
Media and Groundswell Productions, a Section Eight-Jaffe/Braunstein
Enterprise, “The Informant!” –© Warner Bros”

There are many excellent performances in this movie, besides Damon, Scott Bakula is excellent as the FBI agent that gets Mark to become a whistle blower, and Melanie Lynnsky as the loyal somewhat dim-witted wife, Ginger is terrific.   Perhaps the saddest moment in the movie is when Mark’s parents are called by an out of town reporter to ask if Mark was adopted by a rich family after his parents had been killed when he was six, as Mark had repeatedly claimed, only to discover it is an absolute lie.  Even Mark’s wife apparently, who kept insisting he tell the truth, never could quite get him to drink the truth serum all the time.  

If this movie is comedy, it is a dark comedy, indeed it could be called a mixture of comedy and tragedy.  It could well have borne a more revealing title— ‘The Truth about Lies’, but alas, that catchy title was already taken. It doesn’t take 007 to figure out, Mark Whitacre is fifteen degrees shy of plumb.