The informant!

[danny_galaga]

Matt Damon does a great job at this quirky character. I say this from the perspective of not knowing this character. Maybe friends and relatives will say that's not like Mark Whitacre at all. Anyway, like all 'true stories' it pays not to know anything about the facts beforehand. Much more enjoyable that way  

Where the movie might fall down a little is that it seems rather light. Maybe because the story in part is a comedy of errors. Also, although it's set in the early to mid 90's, they seemed hell bent on making it seem like the 70's. Even down to the fonts used and the musical score. The opening scene showed a close up of someone loading up a miniature reel to reel tape recorder. I was thinking " I thought this was set in the 90's? Musta been a typo!" I was only a week or so in the US in the mid 90's. It didn't seem THAT backward to me   I guess heading it in a 70's direction gave it a more comic look and feel but what 90's set film is complete without 'happy pants'?


There were no other big names that i could recognise. Clancy Brown has a small part. Quite a few 'hey, it's that guy' actors. I loved the long suffering FBI agent, Brian Shepard, played by Scott Bakula

I give it 4/5.

Edit: forgot to mention the premise! It's a movie about a corporate whistle-blower. Biggest price fixing scandal of it's time. Damon plays a bio-chemist who gets caught up in the business side of things...

[ChadTower]

Am I the only one who thinks Matt Damon is the new Tom Cruise?  Dude can't act worth a damn.  He's just Matt Damon in various situations.  Exactly like Tom Cruise in every movie he was ever in.  The only difference at all is that Damon is a little funnier and a little less gay.

[shardian]

Am I the only one who thinks Matt Damon is the new Tom Cruise?  Dude can't act worth a damn.  He's just Matt Damon in various situations.  Exactly like Tom Cruise in every movie he was ever in.  The only difference at all is that Damon is a little funnier and a little less gay.

Yeah, but the Bourne identity movies were superior in every way to the Mission Impossible movies. In that sense, I put Damon a little higher up.


Cruise did earn redeem points in the acting category with his role in Tropic Thunder. His penalty for his personal life outweighs that by a ton though...

[ChadTower]

Yeah, but the Bourne identity movies were superior in every way to the Mission Impossible movies. In that sense, I put Damon a little higher up.

That's true but I don't see it being because of Damon.  They were just better movies.  Damon wasn't necessarily much better than Cruise in MI.

Damon does get a lot of points for this, though.

BORDERLINE NSFW, SAFE LANGUAGE BUT CONTENT WARNING

[danny_galaga]

I think both Tom Cruise and Matt Damon are both excellent actors. Are there any actors that completely hide who they are for each role? Actually even as i typed that i just thought of Eric Bana. He really takes on each role and leaves his personality behind. But still, If you watch Jack Nicholson or George Clooney or John Wayne or Samuel L Jackson or most every famous actor, you recognise that actor through the act. There's usually something of themselves left. This probably happens when they become well known and get the jobs based on their past efforts and personality. Type casting i guess. But they are still great actors...

[ChadTower]

Not great actors at all.  Great presences and personalities.  There are a thousand great actors for every George Clooney.

[Ginsu Victim]

Are there any actors that completely hide who they are for each role?

Gary Oldman

[ChadTower]

Gary Oldman

You know, I actually had that exact same response but didn't want to get into a debate about other individual actors.  That was the first name that came to mind for me too.

[shmokes]

Daniel Day Lewis.  Philip Seymore Hoffman.  Meryl Streep. 

[danny_galaga]

Daniel Day Lewis.  Philip Seymore Hoffman.  Meryl Streep. Gary Oldman

I stand corrected! I still think Damon and Cruise are great actors though...

edit: Except Hoffman. He's a brilliant actor, but every movie he is in, he is still Hoffman...