THE INFORMANT! IS A TRAGICOMIC BIOPIC OF MARK WHITACRE
Biochemist Mark Whitacre blew the whistle on price fixing by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) but served nearly nine years in prison while those he exposed served three years. The Informant!, directed by Stephen Soderbergh, tries to explain why. Soon after the film begins, in 1992, filmviewers learn that Whitacre is providing the FBI information in a three-year investigation that ADM is colluding with competitors in Europe and Japan to fix prices. He hopes to have ADM executives mired in such scandal that they will be removed, leaving him as the next president of the company. However, he is not completely honest about his own actions, and the FBI soon has more questions about his financial behavior than about his bosses, causing him to crack up. Indeed, his misconduct is easier to document. But he imagines that he will be given a free pass so that the FBI, conflicted about the case, can nail the biggest crooks at ADM. There are two problems with the film. One is why Matt Damon was chosen to play a pathetic nerd, Mark Whitacre, rather than a comic who plays occasional serious roles, such as Robin Williams or the often enigmatic Bruce Willis. Problem two is the very peculiar music, which purports to demonstrate the absurdity of what Whitacre does and says, as the theme from Matlock would have been more appropriate in evoking laughter at what is intended as tragicomedy. Problems aside, The Informant! brings to light little-known facts about how the government clumsily tries to regulate the corporate culture of deception and greed, even in straight-laced, unpretentious midstate Decatur, Illinois. The book is based on the 2000 book of the same title minus the exclamation point by Mark Eichenwald. For that reason, the Political Film Society has nominated The Informant! as best film exposé of 2009. MH