The Movie

Dramatized from Kurt Eichenwald's book, The Informant! is the mostly-true story of a corporate whistle-blower who may not be quite what he seems. Matt Damon stars as Mark Whitacre, a successful biotech executive who, after a brief encounter with the FBI during an investigation, volunteers to expose his co-workers' alleged industrial price-fixing. After a bumpy start, he displays a real knack for undercover work, but beyond his general quirkiness, the increasingly shifty Whitacre has a few secrets that begin to complicate the entire case.

Damon's sympathetic but unapologetic portrayal of a real, flawed person is the best part of an unspectacular film. We're meant to find the story funny at times but it misses the mark, including excessive narration of random thoughts that are never as clever as they seem. I stroked my chin and wondered, "Am I missing something?" before eventually shifting to "What the hell is really going on?" but without any real urgency to my query.

Also check out Joe Lozito's review of The Informant!

The Picture

The movie was shot on 4K digital video which has yielded a fine 1.78:1 high-definition master with some isolated issues. One of the opening scenes, of Whitacre walking to his office, showed a weird choppiness that did not recur. One shot was tainted by aliasing on fine angled lines. Details are generally excellent, although blacks, as on a dark suit, can lack any sort of nuance. Frequently, an actor is framed in front of a window and the glow behind him tends to wash out his face, but that's an artistic choice more than a technical problem.

The Sound

I was more than halfway through the movie before I checked my audio notes: The Informant! is wholly undistinguished, sonically. Some elements of Marvin Hamlisch's musical are mixed (barely) into the rears, but to call the overall balance of this Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track "front-heavy" would be an understatement. The quality of voices (and it's a very low-key, largely dialogue-driven movie) is not particularly clean.

The Extras

Exclusive to this Blu-ray edition is an audio commentary by director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns. There are also four deleted scenes in high definition totaling six-and-a-half minutes. Disc Two is a "Combo DVD" with the movie in standard-definition plus a Digital Copy for iTunes and Windows Media.

Final Thoughts

The image and audio are passable, the extras are fairly basic but welcome, although the movie is clearly not one of Soderbergh's (Traffic; Sex, Lies, and Videotape) most memorable. But if you do happen to be a fan, Warner's generous inclusion of Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy in one package makes it possible to watch The Informant! anytime, anywhere!

Product Details

• Actors: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey, Tom Papa, Rick Overton, Thomas F. Wilson
• Director: Steven Soderbergh
• Audio Format/Languages: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (French, Spanish Portuguese)
• Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: R
• Studio: Warner
• Release Date: February 23, 2010
• Run Time: 108 minutes
• List Price: $35.99
• Extras:
  • Audio commentary by Steven Soderbergh and Scott Z. Burns
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Standard-definition DVD Copy of the movie
  • Digital Copy