Film Review: The Informant

Let me start out saying that by no means did I love this film. I thought that it was a great piece of work from Steven Soderbergh, though it was not his best. I being a huge Ocean's fan, so I found my self trying to compare it to those films. It could very well be from Matt Damon staring in the title character, but it just never made par with the Ocean's movies.

The Informant is based on the true story of a corporation who illegally fix the prices of food additives. Matt Damon plays Mark Whitacre, a Biochemist who has been brought over to the business side of the company. After a few meetings with the FBI about a possible mole in the company working for Japan, he ends up telling them that they are price fixing. Whitacre then turns Informant to help out the FBI, but also believes that once he has taken care of the "bad guys" he will be the next one to run the company. Next thing you know Whitacre is telling all sorts of tattle tales and lies, to cover himself.

Though this film is based on a true story, it is overly dramatized to make it more of a comedy piece. I loved seeing Damon outside of his action roles, as he stepped in to a more goofy role. I truly believe that this one of Damon's greatest roles and I hope it gets him some huge honors. However, like I said I kept trying to compare it to Soderbergh's other films.

This film over all had a great feel to it, and I loved the humor of the movie but I felt it lacked in the witty humor that other Soderbergh films are full of. Who knows that might just be me. Now the one thing that it did not lack on was the originality. Soderbergh had a great vision when he created this film and that was to take the serious matter of corporate white collar crimes and turn it in to a funny, and enjoyable experience with a likable character. Though there were times when it was way too dry for my liking and I almost just turned it off, it would always pick back up with one of Damon's very humorous narrations and lies.

I would definitely recommend this to someone who either loves Soderbergh or Damon, if you dislike them both...well then I guess don't bother. This is not a must buy movie for my collection, maybe when it's like on the 10 dollar bin somewhere, but it's a rent for sure!

Score:B-

"With Roots Above and Branches Below"- The Devil Wears Prada

As one of AP magazine's most anticipated albums of 2009, The Devil Wears Prada does not disappoint. This is Prada's 3 studio album, a huge step up from there last Album "Plagues" which was released in August of 2007. Returning once again with Producer Joey Sturgis, a now common name in the music industry, Prada brings one of the most melodic yet heavy and brutal albums to date. Jammed pack with tons of Mike Hranica's screams, Jeremy's beautiful singing, and even more breakdowns, this is truly the album that Prada intended on releasing. The album starts off with "Sassafras" and by the first note you are already hooked. From then on the songs get even more amazing, with crazy guitar riffs, like in "Assistant to the Regional Manager" (yes, they have weird song names) where they don't ever let up. One of the most outstanding tracks is "Big Wiggly Style" the intro to the song will make you want to stab a panda. Another outstanding track is "Louder Than Thunder" and very calm and melodic version of Prada, one that we have not seen before. Overall, this album is one of the most amazing things your ears will ever experience. To all the Prada haters out there, I'm sorry, but they ain't going away anytime soon.
9.5/10