The Informant (2009 film)

Infobox Film
name = The Informant


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director = Steven Soderbergh
producer = Jennifer Fox and Gregory Jacobs
writer = Scott Z. Burns
narrator =
starring = Matt Damon
Scott Bakula
Joel McHale
Melanie Lynskey
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cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Warner Brothers
released = March 27, 2009
runtime =
country = United States
language = English
budget =
gross =
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website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 1130080

"The Informant" is an upcoming dark comedy thriller film, directed by Steven Soderbergh,cite news |author=Editorial staff |title="The Informant", the Movie |work=Hollywood.com |date=2005-06-18 |url=http://www.hollywood.com/movie/The_Informant/3464215] and based on the 2000 nonfiction book, "The Informant", by journalist Kurt Eichenwald.cite news |last=Webber |first=Susan |title=Tale of the Tapes |work=The Daily Deal |publisher=Aurora Advisors, Inc. |date=2000-09-25 |url=http://www.auroraadvisors.com/articles/2000-09_dailydeal.html |accessdate=2008-10-02] The script was written by Scott Z. Burns and the film stars Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, and Joel McHale.

Plot summary

"The Informant" is the upcoming tale of an Ivy League Ph.D. known as Mark Whitacre, played by Matt Damon. Whitacre was a rising star at Decatur’s Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in the early 1990s who wound up blowing the whistle on the company’s price-fixing tactics. cite news |last=Cain |first=Tim |title=Behind the inside man: Mark Whitacre, talks about 'The Informant,' his time in prison and moving forward |work=Decatur Herald and Review |date=2008-04-06 |url=http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2008/04/06/news/local/1031549.txt]

One night in early November, 1992, the high-ranking ADM executive did something extraordinary when he confessed to FBI agent Brian Shepard, played by Scott Bakula, that ADM executives-including Whitacre himself-had routinely met with competitors to fix the price of lysine, a food additive. As the highest-ranked executive to ever turn whistleblower in US history, Whitacre secretly gathered hundreds of hours of video and audio over several years to present to the FBI. cite news |last=Muirhead |first=Sarah |title=Whitacre paid ultimate price |work=Feedstuffs Magazine |date=2008-06-02 |pages= [http://fdsmagissues.feedstuffs.com/fds/PastIssues/FDS8022/fds01_8022.pdf 1] , [http://fdsmagissues.feedstuffs.com/fds/PastIssues/FDS8022/fds42_8022.pdf 42] , [http://fdsmagissues.feedstuffs.com/fds/PastIssues/FDS8022/fds43_8022.pdf 43] ] cite news |last=Sidhu |first=Roopam |title=Fresno company connected to Matt Damon movie |publisher=CBS TV 47 Fresno |date=2008-07-23 |url=http://www.cbs47.tv/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=f7a960f9-2c77-4532-a87c-43ea182b4133]

In the upcoming film — a dark comedy/thriller in director Steven Soderbergh’s hands — Whitacre’s good deed dovetails with his own major infractions and struggle with bipolar disorder. ] In a stunning turn of events immediately following the covert portion of the case, headlines around the world reported that the whistleblower defrauded $9 million from his own company at the same period of time he was secretly working for the FBI and taping his co-workers. Because of this major infraction and Whitacre’s bizarre behavior that was laced with bipolar disorder, he was sentenced to prison three times longer than the white-collar criminals he helped to nab. However, ten years later (2008), the former FBI supervisor of the price fixing case, Dean Paisley (played by Allan Havey), with backing from the two other FBI agents and a former prosecutor, went public with praise about Whitacre. "Had it not been for the fraud conviction, he would be a national hero", Paisley said. "Well, he is a national hero", the former FBI supervisor stated.

Production

In 2002, after completing "Ocean's Eleven", director Steven Soderbergh announced his intent to adapt the book "The Informant" by Kurt Eichenwald, a former journalist for the "New York Times". Scott Z. Burns wrote the script based on the book.

Production began in May, 2008 in Decatur, Illinois. Most of filming will be done in Decatur, Illinois.cite news |last=Cain |first=Tim |title=Don't expect "Informant" hobnobbing |work=Decatur Herald and Review |date=2008-03-19 |url=http://herald-review.com/articles/2008/03/19/columnists/cain/1030816.txt] The film will be released on March 27, 2009. Filming was also done at the Whitacre Mansion in Moweaqua,Il a small town about 25 miles from Decatur.

Cast

*Matt Damon portrays a top Archer Daniels Midland executive, Mark Whitacre, who works as an informant for the FBI. Damon joined the Green Zone in January, 2008 with the assurance that production would conclude by April 14, 2008 so he could start working on the Steven Soderbergh film, "The Informant", on April 15, amidst the scheduling difficulties caused by 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. [cite news | author=Michael Fleming | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970086.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 | title=Rush to judgment | publisher=Variety | date=2007-08-10 | accessdate=2008-02-21 ] Damon gained 20-30 pounds for the role in order to look like the doughy Whitacre.
*Scott Bakula portrays FBI agent Brian Shepard.
*Melanie Lynskey portrays Mark Whitacre's wife, Ginger.
*Thomas F. Wilson portrays Mark Cheviron.
*Joel McHale portrays FBI agent Robert Herndon.
*Allan Havey portrays FBI Supervisor Dean Paisley
*Jimmy Pardo and Paul F. Tompkins announced on episode 309 of the Never Not Funny comedy podcast that they both have unannounced parts in the film.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=1130080|title=The Informant
* [http://www.cbs47.tv/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=f7a960f9-2c77-4532-a87c-43ea182b4133 CBS Fresno interview of Mark and Ginger Whitacre July 23, 2008]
* [http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=837 "This American Life" #168: The Fix Is In] (RealAudio) — interview with Mark Whitacre and the book's author, Kurt Eichenwald, from "This American Life"