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So-so Based on 920 reviews
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Oh No!
Written September 30, 2009
The Informant!

by MDiamondMD

Soderburg and Eichenwald's movie is neither fact nor fiction, and therefore both fishy and foul. Using real names from the ADM price-fixing scandal creates a pseudo factuality, in spite of the disclaimer at the beginning--"some characters are composites, the writers have taken dramatic license...so there." A quick poke in the eye, the author wants to blind us to the truth. Matt Damon played the title role as a disturbed and morally ambiguous character, and naively claimed he did not need to study the living person he defamed. If this was a post-modern deconstruction of the whistleblower scenario, why use actual names? The give-away of the movie's real agenda was placing the words of convicted ADM heir apparent, Mike Andreas, in Whitacre's mouth--"The customer is our enemy and the competitor is our friend." The movie's message is simple--Whitacre's a bad whacko, ****happens, shut up. Follow the money trail and you'll likely find Andreas backing, just like he did Watergate. Revenge!
- 27 out of 30 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written October 19, 2009
Get me out

by dpbrew

What a waste of talent and time. I would have resented getting this on Netflix, but at least could have turned it off. We got the point and wow was it dull! This movie does not deserve the so-so rating. It's a fact that if you check the movies on NetFlix it is almost impossible to find a movie that makes it much higher than a 3.0. Those who produce movies seemed to lack cutting edge creativity, but survive financially by spurting out drivel.
- 26 out of 29 found this review helpful.
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So-so
Written September 23, 2009
Drier than a box of cornmeal

by ChuckleMonkey

How did this movie get sold to the studio, exactly? "Yeah, we're gonna fatten up Matt Damon, a franchise action star... but if you like jokes about dextrose and lycene, boy have we got a film for you!"

While the aforementioned Damon (or the doppleganger who apparently ATE Matt Damon) is exceptionally good in the film - good enough that I'd consider him a longshot for an Oscar nom, although a win seems like a stretch - the problem is the script he's been surrounded with. It's billed as a comedy... which clearly indicates that advertising has even less regulation than the corn industry the movie is based on. Seriously, they could have sold me a $10 ticket to see the trailer and I would have gotten the same jokes. Ultimately, the film can't overcome the fact that the script never truly decides whether Damon's character is our protagonist or our antagonist - which prevents the audience from ever actually sypmathizing with him.

Wait for the DVD - maybe it'll come with free corn. :)
- 23 out of 27 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written October 19, 2009
informant

by 214214

a dreadful film in which everybody seemed like automatons. I mean, give me a =break, surely the parents would have noticed their son had a habit of lying! Surely the wife would have registered something around the seventh new car! Or the kids want something he was hot to give them, a swimming pool or something. It was totally unconvincing, especiallly for a True Story.
- 18 out of 20 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written September 27, 2009
The Informant

by ddallura

This movie did not capture the interest of anyone in my group. It started slow and never picked up.
- 18 out of 20 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written September 28, 2009
Worst and most boring movie I've ever watched.

by karmalife

I was so disappointed with this movie. It never took-off, it just dragged on, and on, and on and was a pointless waste of time.
- 17 out of 19 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written September 28, 2009
The informant

by Geezd

Not good at all
- 19 out of 23 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written September 18, 2009
Lies

by azladyrider

I havent seen the actual movie yet but I lived this while I was working in that small town for that CROOKED and CORRUPT corporation. I know most of the players and TRUST ME on this one, if they made this out to be a comedy they did it at ADM's urgings. The film makers were paid off to make Mr Whitacre look horrible and ADM look like saints. Since when does a serious issue such as price fixing become a huge joke?

I will be at the earliest showing today for this movie and I am sure I will be trying hard not to jump out of my seat and scream BULLSH** over and over again.

If they merely wanted to make a comedy they should have done so with another subject. ADM is as CROOKED at they come TRUST ME! One of their main attorneys is known in town as "If you are guilty as hell go to Fombelle" (Norman Fombelle) The heads of ADM had ties to Watergate for gods sake. PLEASE read the other book involved with this - the one that is called Rats in the Grain - it is truer then this is
- 48 out of 81 found this review helpful.
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Go
Written October 7, 2009
Great movie for the right audiences

by yuvilio

Man, I don't usually write movie reviews but there are a lot of harsh ones for this flick. Upon reading them, a lot of the negatives could have been avoided if people bothered researching the movie. This is not an Bourne style action chaser. It's a corporate crime movie with some other elements sprinkled in. For someone wanting a lot of action, they'll be devastated to sit through all the talk that this movie has.

I happen to love this kind of thing since it teaches me about how several layers of lies upon eachother can create such confusion and mayhem in our world. Damon has us guessing well as to what the real motivation behind his character is util the end. Sometimes it feels like he games everyone he can and other times it seems like he's not in control of the events he starts.

For those who didn't like this movie because they thought it was slow and not enough was going on, look it up in rottentomatoes.com or some other site before you go.
- 17 out of 20 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written October 3, 2009
- Slow sattire ... fell asleep
by graiz4
- 15 out of 18 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written September 28, 2009
The Informant

by dtrainor

Dull, slow moving movie that made no sense.
I love Matt Damon but this was TERRIBLE!
We walked out after an hour of drivel.
A total waste of time and money!
- 14 out of 17 found this review helpful.
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No
Written October 5, 2009
I nearly feel asleep

by granolaorders

As much as I like Matt Damon, I thought The Informant was a snooze. The storyline didn't hold my attention and both the music and the onscreen treatment (especially the "pop art" typeface in the subtitles throughout) were too much of a throwback to the 60's. This story took place in the 1990's, didn't it? The Informant was too much information, too much exposition, not enough entertainment for me.
- 13 out of 15 found this review helpful.
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So-so
Written September 21, 2009
ok, sorta hard to follow

by Aruba4me

The movie overall was a solid B-. The acting was decent, but I didn't think anything about the movie was "Oscar worthy". I found the story difficult to follow and the first 25 minutes were kinda slow. Also, with all of the voice overs, I was confused if the main character was actually experiencing what he was saying or if he was imagining it a la "A Beautiful Mind". It was worth seeing, but nothing extra special or even tremendously funny.
- 17 out of 24 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written September 30, 2009
Great expectations

by maxsdad1

I lived near Decatur, IL during the storyline of the Informant and d was really looking forward to the movie coming out. Imagine my surprise when the movie was a comedy...and not really funny. Instead, it was awkward and random. Tell me what Brad Pitt was thinking when he read that script? Don't bother folks, it's horrible.
- 11 out of 14 found this review helpful.
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So-so
Written September 26, 2009
Wait for the DVD

by Ronspick

I like Matt Damon and he really pulled off "being" this character. But the movie is a let down. Way too complicated, disjointed, Like watching a series of clips from the guy's life that were hard to follow at times. Plus, you never really had a sense of who this guy was. This was a poor attempt at Catch Me If You Can, which, in contrast, was a great film. All in all, The Informant was a dissapointment. If you go for the comedy, better to save your money and just watch the free trailer over and over again because they are all in there. Better to wait for the DVD...but if just can't wait to see a fat version of Matt Damon on screen, go see it as a discount as a matinee. One redeeming aspect: Seeing Matt Damon play against type. Bravo to Matt for that!
- 10 out of 12 found this review helpful.
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