Wow, what a rush. That was a breath a fresh air. Oh, no, I’m not talking about the movie, I’m talking about walking out of theater when it was finally over. The Informant! isn’t a good comedy at all…and that’s what it was advertised as. The Informant! isn’t an interesting story to watch…and that’s what the book, and true story are. It’s mashed together, it left out critical details and pieces of the storyline which leave you scratching your head, and it’s immensely boring. I wanted so badly to give this movie a chance as I had been looking forward to it, and I stayed with it, through all of its running time…only to be ultimately letdown.
This one had a lot going for it: a crafty director, a great producer on board in Clooney, and a very talented actor in the lead role. Let’s start out with the acting: there was nothing wrong with it. This is the one aspect of The Informant! that wasn’t bad at all. Matt Damon, who put on 30 pounds of fat for the role, did what he could with the script (we’ll get to that later). He was a good liar, a convincing one, and blended into his role. He’s one of those special actors where you really see the character, not the actor. The supporting actors all fell in line too, playing their roles to the best of their extent. Each one did their job. This is where I stop praising the movie because it was a misled, mishandled, and quite boring.
Matt Damon plus 30 lbs. couldn't save this movie from dragging on far too long in a poorly put together script. (Warner Bros/aceshowbiz.com)
Acting aside, the script left a lot to be desired. The movie should have looked and felt “faster” and “craftier” than it was. I don’t know why Soderbergh didn’t take more elements from Oceans 11 other than the music. It was dull and it certainly needed a jolt every couple of minutes, which it sadly never got. Going back to what the script was…it dragged. Oh did it drag. It was all over the place. It sometimes didn’t even make sense. For instance, if you do see it, try and figure out why Mrs. Whitacre didn’t question one thing her husband did. I’m sure the book goes into great detail, but the movie didn’t spend one second on her character. It’s errors like this that turned a boring movie into a boring movie that didn’t even add up.
I hate to really trash something like I have in this review, but this was a huge letdown. The story seemed like such a lively one, but was tossed around on Hollywood desks a few too many times, and came out dry. The actors did what they could to save it, but couldn’t do a thing. And man…it was boring!
THE INFORMANT!: 
(out of 4)
Filed under: Movie review | Tagged: george clooney, matt damon, steven soderbergh, the informant
