Blu-ray Review: The Informant! (2009)

The Informant! - exclamation mark and all - is certainly a bit of an oddity. Recounting the true story of Mark Whitacre, a corporate bigwig in the world of maize production who became an FBI whistle blower, in the form of an absurdist comedy seems like a curious move. But we've come to expect the unexpected from the eclectic Steven Soderbergh, a director evidently keen to try out as many genres as possible during his career (this was his follow-up to the Spanish-language guerilla warfare epic Che). If his ratio of successes to misfires is perhaps not as good as some of his more celebrated contemporaries, few currently working directors produce output that is so consistently interesting. You wouldn't get a film like The Informant! from anyone else.

Setting the tone immediately is an onscreen text that appears before the opening logos. Paraphrasing, it states that the film is based on real events but elements of it have been dramatised and altered - "so there." (Yes, the words "so there" are actually there on the screen.) It's a sign of things to come. At any given point The Informant! could be a serious drama in the vein of Michael Mann's The Insider (which Soderbergh states in the commentary that he was keen to avoid crossover with, hence the comedic angle), but serious events are continually undercut by humorous asides. In fact, little of what occurs is funny in itself, but the way it is delivered highlights its inherent silliness. In some ways it looks at times that the decision to make a comedy was made in the edit suite, because the two elements that are mainly relied upon to inject the laughs both the sort that slot into place during post-production: the musical score, and the main character's voiceover narration.

Soderbergh's decision to recruit Marvin Hamlisch to compose the music proves to be inspired. Hamlisch, who has done little of note in films since the 1980s, contributes a jazzy, energetic score that is at least half responsible for creating The Informant!'s sense of fun. It continually works in counterpoint to the image, emphasising what's going on in its deluded main character's head rather than reality. It's easy to spot, for example, Hamlisch's playful riff on a James Bond-esque theme, which reflects Whitacre's belief that he's a secret agent (he calls himself 0014, because he's twice as smart as 007). It's a reminder that Hamlisch did score an actual Bond film himself, 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me. The emphasis on Whitacre's inner delusions is continued in the voiceover, which is hilariously off-topic; it rambles on and on, often about nothing remotely relevant to the on-screen action. Without these two critical components, The Informant! may not even operate as a comedy at all.

Matt Damon's performance in the central role is commendably self-deprecating. He continues to prove himself an actor willing to try experimental projects, not concerned with their apparent box office value or their consequential effects on his paycheque. His ever-watchable presence holds the film together as its human core. Really, the film is not a complete success; there are no real belly laughs of the sort that would be expected of an effective comedy, but conversely, the continual chuckles undermine the build-up of much suspense or intrigue. Neither is it a failure, however, as it remains a diverting, likeable, and unbelievably true(ish) tale that few will regret spending 100 minutes with.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: Free / Version: N/A / Discs: 1 / Distributor: Warner Bros.

Presentation
Shot on Soderbergh's favoured Red One cameras, with which he filmed Che, this Blu-ray presentation does not share its predecessor's visual verve. It's a stylistic choice; Soderbergh films with softening diffusion filters, going for a 1970s feel (despite the film being set in the '90s), and with the events mostly comprising scenes in offices and boardrooms, there's little eye candy to show off. Still, it's appreciably high-def, the warm colour palette coming through strongly and some crisp detail in outdoor daylight scenes. The Dolby TrueHD soundtrack is rather restrained too - no surprise given the content - but dialogue is clear and the music is lively.

Extras
The engaging and talkative commentary, involving Soderbergh and writer Scott Z. Burns, is Blu-ray exclusive. The only other bonus is a set of forgettable but by no means poor deleted scenes.



Summary
An entertaining, if not wholly engrossing, curiosity, The Informant! is worth giving a go with an open mind, mainly for the contributions of Damon and Hamlisch. The Blu-ray probably isn't worth spending the extra price for, given its A/V limitations, but I found it going cheap. So there.