Eye of the Beholder.

83. The Informant! (Steven Soderbergh, 2009)
100 Films of the 2000s

From workaholic director Steven Soderbergh comes one of the best sleeper hits of 2009. Based on actual events propelled by one Mark Whitacre, The Informant! is a satirical comedy starring Matt Damon as the infamous Whitacre and proves to be one of the cleverer comedies of the year. Whitacre, working for a large food processing company turns government whistle blower after apparent threats from an outside source as well as attempting to pull the lid off of a huge price fixing operation. However, the further we're pulled into Whitacre's head the more tangled the story becomes when things aren't necessarily what we've been led to believe.

The movie is often times very funny, Matt Damon stars as Whitacre and gives one of his best character performances to date. At times bumbling and flabbergasted he dives head first into the world of undercover FBI operations and the results are quite rewarding. Some of the best comedic moments involve some of Whitacre's almost childlike interactions with the FBI and their operation. It's an interesting comedy to say the least, first off because it's humor is not only propelled by character rather than concept gags but secondly because it's based on true events and actual people. It's true that the real world really can be stranger than fiction.

The movie is smart enough before it even leaps into it's major turning point where we start to see what is actually going on within the story making it far more complex a comedy than expected. It is also revealed that Whitacre suffers from bipolar disorder which goes to explain much of his actions throughout the film, not the bumbling amateur FBI stuff but what's later revealed to be his coaxing with certain facts and falsehoods. We also begin to understand the nature of the monologues we're given by Damon's narration, which are often times very funny. They're another way in which the movie pulls us even further into Whitacre's own head, not to emerge until the end of the picture, and it's an intriguing and often times hilarious excursion.

10 Films of 2009:

8. The Informant! (Steven Soderbergh)
9. Up in the Air (Jason Reitman)
10. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (Werner Herzog)