Short Review: Hey Average People, come see my movie about how stupid Average People are. You guys with your average lives, sheesh - dummies. Seriously though, gimme your money.


The whistle-blower Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) is a bright but foolish man. He is a Vice President of ADM (Archer Daniels Midland) a massive corporation that modifies food. Whitacre has been looking the other way regarding the company's price fixing practices for years. He finally turncoats on the company and becomes an informant for the F.B.I. Being a well educated but still simple minded man, he takes his role as informant to an illogical extreme, seeing himself as a grand spy.

This is presented in its marketing as it should have been in reality: a slightly quirky, often humorous tale of an bumbling whistle-blower. Directed by Steven Soderberg (Erin Brochovich, The Good German, Che: Part One & Two) and starring Damon (Syriana, Che: Part Two, Stuck on You) stinks of contempt for its subject.

Whitacre lives in the Midwest so Soderberg is compelled to underline we're talking about hicks. Infused throughout is twangy music and cheap environments. Many of the scenes are drenched in a condescending tone as if Soderberg and company believe everyone is in on the joke that the folks in Decatur, Illinois are simple rubes.

Whitacre, an emotionally challenged man, is still a very smart man, he's a PhD. This is lost in Damon's performance. Whitacre is presented as if he would have trouble being the assistant manager of a Wendy's, let alone being an executive at one of the largest corporations in the world. Soderberg takes moments to explain that Whitacre is smart, but these concessions are quickly blasted away by Damon's goofy presentation.

The contempt throughout the film is not the biggest issue however. Where the film seriously stumbles is in its main story. Price fixing is a serious issue, in particular when it involves people paying for food. Price fixing also is not a sexy crime. Didn't anyone learn from George Lucas (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) that issues regarding commerce makes for a rather pale crime on which to spin a tale?

The film also suffers from a lack of genuine humor. If you've seen the trailer you have seen the "funny parts". Ultimately, you have Matt Damon in a mustache and with a gut pretending to be one of the small people.

You have better things to do with your life than sit through a needless film. Its not good enough for your attention.


Related Reviews:
Matt Damon movies
The Good Shepherd (2006)
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)


Other Critic's Reviews:
eFilmCritic
Cinematical




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Labels: film, Matt Damon, movie review, Scott Bakula