Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Informant!

Right here, right now, I must tell you Matt Damon, who stars in The Informant!, is one of my favorite actors. And, Good Will Hunting, written by Damon and his best friend, Ben Affleck, is one of my favorite movies. I love the storyline and the acting in Good Will Hunting. Yet, what won me over was the tenacity shown by Damon and Affleck in creating, selling and starring in such a brilliant film. Ultimately, these two childhood friends, who were basically no-names in Hollywood, won an Oscar for best screenplay and the rest is history!

So, it was with great expectations I went to go see Damon in The Informant! Based on the true story of Mark Whitacre (Damon), a corporate whistleblower, who turns out to be a compulsive liar. Surprisingly, Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13) decided to make this film a comedy. Something about this didn't resonate for me. Now, if you’ve seen the movie or read a review, you may be thinking, “Come on, Rachele, it’s a satire. You just didn’t get it.” And, you’d be right. I just didn’t get the humor of a habitual liar, who ultimately served 8 years in prison and tried to commit suicide two times. Realizing this is a story based on a real person, who apparently had a real mental illness, didn’t transfer to any kind of funny or comedy for me.

The one lesson reinforced by Whitacre and The Informant! is "Honesty is the best policy." Since most of us learned that from our parents you can save your money and SKIP PAST this “liar, liar pants on fire” movie.

R.A.N.’s Rating For The Informant! = * Skip Past This Movie

R.A.N.’s Rating System:
*****RACE To This Movie = Amazing/Oscar Worthy
****RUN To This Movie = Great
***JOG To This Movie = Good
**WALK To This Movie = So-So
*SKIP Past This Movie = Bad