Matt Damon in "The Informant"
courtesy of Warner Home Entertainment
“Matt Damon Informs Us All”

Matt Damon is an Oscar nominee this year for his role as a soccer team captain in “Invictus.” He also starred in the film “The Informant” and h was not nearly as physically fit for that role. To play in this movie, now out on DVD, he added about forty pounds to his lean, mean frame to be convincing as Mark Whitacre, a real life informant for the FBI. Though he looks porky, Damon’s acting talent is razor sharp.

Mark Whitacre (Damon) is an executive with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in the early 1990’s. One day he goes to the FBI and lays out information he has about corruption within the company. Agents Shepherd (Scott Bakula) and Hendon (Joel McHale) get him to wear a wire so that they can corroborate his statements.

Whitacre really gets into the “spy” thing and comes up with more information for the Feds. He tapes conversations and even helps with videos of the meetings where illegalities are discussed. But as the case moves forward some inconsistencies began to emerge and Whitacre finds himself fighting to save himself.

Damon is amazing as Whitacre and has his idiosyncrasies down pat. He is totally believable even when his character is acting unbelievably. With the extra pounds and a half-hearted wig he is far from his look as Bourne, but that is as it should be.

Melanie Lynskey also makes an impression as Whitacre’s wife Ginger. You are never sure if Ginger is a pawn for Whitacre’s ambitions or a force that goads him to his undoing.

Something to remember when you watch this film, at two different times in the movie I thought I spied an actor who looked like Dickie Smothers. I dismissed it however in my mind as ridiculous. Luckily I stayed through the credits and found that both Tommy and Dickie Smothers are in the film. Look for them!

The musical score for this movie is by Marvin Hamlisch and it is a good one. We haven’t had a full Hamlisch musical score in years and it is good to have him back. It was also good to see Scott Bakula back on the big screen as well as the Smothers Brothers.

As good as the acting is in this film, it is not a totally enjoyable movie. Director Steven Soderbergh’s pacing of the plot is too tedious. It seems to take forever for the movie to get going and when it does it stays confusing up till the end and beyond. The confusion regarding the Whitacre character is a key plot element but surely it didn’t have to be as oblique as it was.

The movie is worth seeing for Damon’s superb acting skills but don’t watch it expecting to be knocked over by the plot. It is an interesting story but one that is told in a fairly uninteresting way.


On the other hand “The Box” is a psychological thriller, now on DVD, that stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden. It is so convoluted and eerie that it reminded me of a well made episode of “The Twilight Zone.” Since I am a big fan of that old TV show I thoroughly enjoyed the film.

Arthur and Norma Lewis (Marsden and Diaz) live in Richmond, Virginia. The time is the mid 70’s and the clothes and décor of the homes indicate that fact. Arthur is employed by the government while Norma teaches at a local private school. The couple has a young son named Walter (Sam Oz Stone).

One day a package is left on their doorstep. In it is a box that has a button on top. There is a note that says a Mr. Steward (Frank Langella) will call on them at 5PM the next day. When Mr. Steward does show up he tells Norma that by depressing the button someone she and her husband do not know will die. They will also receive one million dollars tax free.

Norma and Arthur ponder and worry about what they will do. They only have twenty-four hours to act and then the offer is retracted. They question Mr. Steward to make sure they do not know the person who will die.

The movie spreads out from this one event and dabbles in areas that are mythological as well as science fiction. There are also religious inferences in all that goes on. Is Mr. Steward the serpent in the couples’ Eden, and is Norma the Eve who will bring on their downfall?

Diaz is wonderfully vulnerable in this film. She affects a soft southern accent that makes her appear softer and more malleable than ever before. Her character has a deformity in her foot and this also adds to the vulnerability. This is one of Diaz’ best performances though it will probably be overlooked.

Marsden is also good in his role. He makes Arthur an unwilling victim to the forces surrounding him. Marsden’s good looks work against him here and make Arthur appear weaker than he is. Langella on the other hand is able to project evil and kindness at the same time which adds to the confusion of the movie – which is what is intended.

The film is so complex and so complicated that all the answers are never known, at least not by me. Still the solutions that are offered make this a chilling movie from beginning to end. After you have finished viewing the film you will replay it over and over in your mind.

The film is so much like a “Twilight Zone” episode that at the end you expect to hear Rod Serling say, “Norma and Arthur thought the button could solve their problems, but that is never the case when you live in the world known as the twilight zone.”

Also out on DVD this week is Unbeatable Harold,” a film that involves a love triangle. It all takes place in Reno, Nevada where Harold lives. He meets and falls in love with a wonderful woman named Wanda. Wanda has some problems though. She has broken up with her boyfriend Jake and he wants her back.

The movie is fun and romantic but the real attraction is the cast. Henry Winkler, Phyllis Diller and Gladys Knight are featured along with the three “stars” Gordon Michaels, Dylan McDermott and Nicole DeHuff.

The movie is just different enough to be amusing so enjoy it if you will. 

Finally we also have “Immigrants,” a film animated by the same troop that animates “The Simpsons.” In this film two men, one Russian and one Hungarian, immigrate to the United States looking for the “American dream.” How they go about finding it, and how the search affects their families is what the movie is all about.

The movie is funny and also somewhat sweet in that it shows the spirit that drives people to come to America and tough it out in search of their dream.
 

 

 

 

 

©2010 Jackie K. Cooper

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