Damon Turns Snitch in The Informant
John T. Johnson
Issue date: 9/21/09 Section: Features
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The film follows Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) who rises quickly through the ranks at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM.) One night, Whitacre decides to open up to FBI agent Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula), in which he reveals a massive conspiracy to raise the prices of the animal feed additive lysine.
Whitacre then decides to go undercover by taping the company's activities around the globe. The FBI thinks that they have a solid case until they begin to find that Whitacre himself is involved in his own plans to defraud the company.
Soon, the FBI does not know what to believe, and Whitacre suddenly becomes the target of the investigation.
One of the high points of the film is Damon as the executive-turned-whistleblower. When an audience is watching Damon play Whitacre, they are completely convinced that he is Whitacre and not the actor from "The Bourne Identity" or the actor in "Good Will Hunting." It was refreshing to see that Damon did not fall into the trap of making Whitacre into a hero for the modern man with someone who is trying to take down the big corporations. Whitacre has many flaws, and Damon makes no excuses in his performance.
Instead, Damon portrays Whitacre as a man who is not so squeaky clean himself. He is a human being that some people may come to hate and even consider a hypocrite. While the truth behind the lies that Whitacre tells are revealed in subtle and often humorous ways, at the same time, it is serious enough not to let the audience forget that Whitacre is also not innocent in the affairs at hand.
Another actor of note in the film is Scott Bakula as FBI agent Brian Shepard. While Bakula is not as interesting to watch as Damon is, Bakula does a great job by playing Shepard as a man who feels sorry for Whitacre.
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