John’s Movie Musings

Matt Damon is quickly becoming my favorite actor.  At no time while watching The Informant! (with exclamation!) did I think I was watching the same actor who played Jason Bourne.  Well ok, I did, but my thoughts were more like, “I can’t believe this is the same guy who plays Jason Bourne!”  Acting!

So as you probably gathered by now, The Informant! is not really meant to be taken seriously.  It’s comedy, sure, but think Burn After Reading rather than Old School.  This is only important if you see the movie in the theater.  There, you’ll be able to identify the smart people by who laughs at the jokes.  But don’t feel bad for the people not laughing.  They also wouldn’t get the point I’m making.

Imagine a movie with a villain that dies in the end.  Now think of the inevitable sequel where the new guy is not quite as memorable and really, more of an embarrassment to villainy.  In recent American history, that first villain was tobacco.  The Informant! tackles the lesser, more annoying bad guy: high fructose corn syrup.  Matt Damon plays a Vice President of ADM who gets tapped by the FBI to spy on the highly processed, white-collar crime.

One word of caution, avoid all reviews of The Informant! (my yammerings excepted).  The people who made the trailers set this movie up to be something it isn’t and left out all of the important details.  Kudos to them for keeping their cards hidden, because the movie is so much better if you go in not knowing anything.  So. Much. Better.

Go see this before you accidentally read a review.

Grade: A