THE INFORMANT!

The Informant! has the potential to be a wonderfully quirky and completely original movie, but somewhere around the halfway mark it becomes lost in its own world. Indeed, Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) seems like a fabulous narrator at the outset.  As an executive at a top food additive company, he can dish out random facts on lysine and vividly explain how just about every food item manufactured is somehow made of corn.  It's snappy, amusing patter that sets the stage for a viewing experience that never really pans out.

After becoming privy to a variety of shady practices, Mark begins taping meetings at work and collaborating with the FBI.  He's pretty sure he can bring the company down for contaminating their own supply, paying off employees, and a host of other indiscretions, and though it will put a great strain on his personal and professional life, he's also pret-ty sure that he'll be rewarded for his efforts with some major hero worship.  And so he treads lightly through life, gingerly attempting to balance, work, home, and, well, snitching.  Were Mark any sort of normal person, his story would have unfolded much like any other whistleblower's, but alas, it appears that Mark is just slightly off his rocker.

Sadly, the movie itself feels the need to follow our protagonist directly to Crazy Town.  As Mark begins dreaming of simultaneously destroying the company and becoming its new CEO, The Informant! begins to drift.  As Mark's thoughts become more convoluted, so does the plot.  It's as though the two are tethered together like E.T. and Elliott, but with a far less pleasing result for the viewer.  Probably half of the viewing experience is lost to confusion, boredom, and apathy, so when the ending finally pays off, it's difficult to appreciate the full impact.  Perhaps if the story had been told from a more lucid point of view, we might have all enjoyed Mark's tragic downfall a bit more.

Deleted scenes are this DVD's sole extra feature.

Available February 23rd.