Einstein on 'The Informant!'

I've been trying to come up with an argument to support my (unwritten, but much thought) claim that 'The Informant!,' while brilliantly made, lacks something essential. Here's an Albert Einstein quote to help me out:

“Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion towards men and towards objective things.”- Einsten

Mark Whitacre's Website

Portrayed by Matt Damon in "The Informant!," Mark Whitacre is an interesting person to say the least. I found his personal website. It's pretty interesting, and if you haven't seen the movie you might not want to view it, as it could give away some spoilers. The best are the pictures of Mr. Whitacre with Matt Damon and Steven Soderbergh (above, along with Mr. Whitacre's wife, Ginger). Awesome stuff. Click here to check out his site.

Weekend Box Office Wrap-Up

Here's how much money the new movies made this weekend, along with what I had predicted:

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs:
My Prediction: $30 million
Weekend Gross: $30.1 million

The Informant!:
My Prediction: $6 million
Weekend Gross: $10.5 million

Love Happens:
My Prediction: $9 million
Weekend Gross: $8.5 million

Jennifer's Body:
My Prediction: $20 million
Weekend Gross: $6.8 million

I was pretty far off on Jennifer's Body, but guess right on Meatballs. Next week, Fame, Pandorum and Surrogates open wide. In limited release (probably (definitely) just NYC), Brief Interviews With Hideous Men and The Boys Are Back (actually, I read this might open wider on Friday).

Here are trailers for the latter two:




 

Review: 'The Informant!'

There was a great deal of controversy earlier this summer when Sony Pictures cancelled production on Steven Soderbergh's film Moneyball, set to star Brad Pitt. And while I think it was a real scumbag move on Amy Pascal's part to pull the plug the weekend before the film was to begin shooting, I can now think of one reason why she would do such a thing: she must have seen The Informant!

With The Informant!, Soderbergh treats the audience with a mix of disdain, and respect for their intelligence. I saw it once and I really feel like I need to see it again. It's one of those films that throws the whole story on its head in a way that cannot be predicted, and I felt like I had been duped. Which was the point, but still, it feels like a nasty little trick. At a certain point in the film, I could see where Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns were pulling the strings. And while it was a fun little joke, I still got the impression that they were laughing at me, rather than with me.

Once I got past this bit of scorn (it still stings a little), I began to appreciate The Informant! for what it is: an entertaining, brutally self aware film about just how messy and tangled up things can get in the corporate world. I'm not questioning the quality of the story, just the way that it was told. There I go again bringing it up - maybe I'm not over the whole thing just yet.

Matt Damon gives a really brilliant performance as Mark Whitaker, vice president of ADM, who helps the F.B.I. to uncover a price fixing scam involving major companies around the world. It's hard to get into the details of the film without giving away some spoilers, but I promise to give nothing away.

Whitaker spends 2 1/2 years working with the F.B.I. (this is all a true story, by the way). He gets audio and video recordings of meetings in which representatives from companies got together in conference rooms to discuss how they would rip off consumers. The F.B.I. Agents, played by Scott Bakula and Joel McHale (who both do a great job), are protective of Whitaker. They know that once the evidence is compiled and the bust on ADM goes down, Mark Whitaker will be out of a job.

What happens next I won't reveal. The thing that makes The Informant! worth seeing is that as it sets up its world like a comedy (casting comedic actors like Tony Hale and Patton Oswald, as well as others), it is keeping some very serious matters just below the surface. What does it mean to do justice? How important is financial security? If one is to blow the whistle at the company, to what extend should the government protect him? What Soderbergh gets so well is that he never forgets that everyone involved is a real person: complex, interesting, flawed. Even when Whitaker tries to do the right thing, it won't change him as a person, no matter how much money he saves for the consumer public.

With The Informant! and his two previous films, The Girlfriend Experience and Che, Soderbergh is establishing himself as easily the most interesting and prolific filmmaker out right now. Like Mark Whitaker, you don't know what he's going to do next. He's got best friends like Matt Damon and George Clooney, he can throw "From the director of Ocean's 11, 12, and 13" on any movie poster. Studios want to put him in a box, but they can't catch him. He'll make a film for $80 million, $50 million, $20 million or half a million dollars. What can you do to a man whom you can't buy? And how can you trust him? You fumble around and bite your nails. And if you're a studio president, you probably end up pulling the plug on a film two days before it begins shooting. [A-] - Ryan Sartor.

Weekend Movies

Opening this weekend are:

"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" which looks fairly Okay. It's got a 67 on Metacritic, so maybe it is good. Its presented in many locations in 3D. Here's Ebert's latest rant against 3D (you have to scroll down to read about "The Hole"). I agree completely. 3D makes the screen dark and you can never get into the story because you're always actively aware that what you're seeing is augmented by glasses on your face. Voice cast is pretty strong with Bill Hader, Anna Farris, Bruce Campbell and Andy Samberg. Mr. T also does a voice but I didn't want to be 'That Guy' and mention it. Yet, here we are.

"Love Happens" is one of those movies that I want to be good, but probably is not. It stars the very likeable pairing of Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart. From Variety's review, it sounds like a good movie's buried underneath a love story, which is barely there. I may be quoting them exactly. Sorry, Variety.

"Jennifer's Body" is written by Diablo Cody and stars the always boring Megan Fox (though I've heard she's okay or good in this) and the always enjoyable Amanda Seyfried. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, which must seem like a bad decision now as it was largely shrugged off or just outright hated.

Finally, "The Informant!" comes out tomorrow. It's opening WIDE - 2,500 screens. That seems like an absurd number to me, but I'm glad because it means I don't have to search for it. I'm just worried if it fails so wide, the studio will say, "See? THAT'S why don't make art films." Soderbergh directed it, The Playlist loved it, I'm satisfied.

I won't bother with films currently in release, but here are my obligatory predictions for the new films at the weekend box office (Friday-Sunday):
1. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs: $30 million
2. Jennifer's Body: $20 million
3. The Informant!: $9 million
4. Love Happens: $6 million