Reviewed by Mike Martin
Stars Matt Damon, Lucas Carroll, Eddie Jemison, Melanie Lynskey Rusty Schwimmer, Tom Papa, Scott Bakula, Scott Adsit, Rick Overton, Ann Dowd
Written by Scott Z Burns, based on a book by Kurt Eichenwald
Certification UK x15 | US R
Runtime 108 minutes
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Whistle-blower films have become quite a staple these days, but director Steven Soderbergh has produced something quite different to something like The Insider – it’s almost a genre of its own. The informer comedy? A whistleblower farce? Soderbergh has taken a huge risk with a true story but has made something quite unlike anything else.
Damon stars as Mark Whitacre, a bio-chemist working for a company called ADM on a new corn product that will make the company millions. His experiments keep going wrong however, and he reveals that a virus has been injected into the plant by a Japanese agent, who wants $10m for the antidote. Enter the FBI, in the form of Bakula as Agent Brian Shepard, who taps Mark’s line. After days of no show Shepard surmises that Mark has invented the story, but Mark convinces him that there is a much bigger theme here – international price fixing of corn products. Together they set up a huge sting to trap the big international dealers, but will it work? And why doesn’t Mark’s own wife Ginger (the wonderful Lynskey) believe him?
The really unnerving element here is the tone Soderbergh uses to tell what is, after all, a very serious story of corporate greed and FBI double-dealing. It’s a dark tale, yet Soderbergh tells it like a light, frothy comedy. From Damon’s comedy moustache and wig, to the daft Benny hill-style music and typography, this looks and sounds like a 1970s comedy. Even more baffling are Damon’s endless stories on the voice-over, many of which seem to have no relevance to what is going on up on the screen at all. But stick with it.
Somehow Soderbergh begins to slowly pull together all the threads of what is a hugely complicated story, and the effect is curiously satisfying. Having several characters who look as baffled as we feel – especially long-suffering wife Ginger and Agent Shepard – works a treat as the drama is played out, and Mark’s ramblings on everything from Polar Bears to Duty Free ties begin to make sense. Sort of.
Mark’s theory that all that matters to shareholders – who lack his scientific skills – is that “corn goes in one end and money comes out of the other” is something of a rallying cry, and crucially elicits a lot of sympathy for his complex character. Damon’s performance veers from hilarious to the outright dull, yet somehow it works. Spurred on by watching Tom Cruise in The Firm, Damon’s character seems to be asking “who is the real enemy? Big business? The FBI? The Government?”. There are no easy answers.
A lot of credit should go to the excellent supporting cast, in very unglamorous roles. Lynskey is superb as Ginger, and Bakula as solid as ever as the doughty FBI agent. The period detail too is bang on, from the hideous early 90s ties to the desperately bleak hotel rooms and roadside cafes where the dirty dealings are played out. Ultimately it’s a morality tale, but for the first hour the picture is very murky indeed.
For Soderbergh it’s certainly a step up from the likes of Ocean’s 13 or The Good German – a return to something like his best form.