The Informant!
| The Informant | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Steven Soderbergh |
| Written by | Scott Z. Burns |
| Produced by | Jennifer Fox and Gregory Jacobs |
| Starring | Matt Damon Scott Bakula Joel McHale Melanie Lynskey Thomas F. Wilson |
| Edited by | Stephen Mirrione |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date | October 9, 2009 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Informant is an upcoming dark comedy thriller film, directed by Steven Soderbergh,[1] and based on the 2000 nonfiction book, The Informant, by journalist Kurt Eichenwald.[2] The script was written by Scott Z. Burns and the film stars Matt Damon, Melanie Lynskey, Scott Bakula, and Joel McHale.
Plot summary
The Informant is about Ivy League Ph.D. Mark Whitacre (Damon), a rising star at Decatur, Illinois based Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in the early 1990s who wound up blowing the whistle on the company’s price-fixing tactics. [3][4]
One night in early November 1992, the high-ranking ADM executive confessed to FBI agent Brian Shepard (Bakula) that ADM executives — including Whitacre himself — had routinely met with competitors to fix the price of lysine, a food additive. As the highest-ranked executive to ever turn whistleblower in US history, Whitacre secretly gathered hundreds of hours of video and audio over several years to present to the FBI. [3][5][6] He assisted in gathering evidence by clandestinely taping the cartel’s activity in business meetings at various locations around the globe such as Tokyo, Paris, Mexico City, and Hong Kong. During Whitacre's undercover work that spanned almost three years, the FBI collected hundreds of hours of video and audio tapes that documented crimes committed by high-level executives from around the world fixing the prices of food additives in the largest price-fixing case in history at the time.[3][5][6]
In the upcoming film — a dark comedy/thriller in director Steven Soderbergh’s hands — Whitacre’s good deed dovetails with his own major infractions and struggle with bipolar disorder. [3][7] The film focuses on Whitacre's meltdown and bizarre behavior resulting from the pressures of wearing a wire for three years. In a stunning turn of events immediately following the covert portion of the case, headlines around the world reported that the whistleblower defrauded $9 million from his own company at the same period of time he was secretly working for the FBI and taping his co-workers.[3] Because of this major infraction and Whitacre’s bizarre behavior that was laced with bipolar disorder, he was sentenced to prison three times longer than the white-collar criminals he helped to nab.[3] However, ten years later (2008), the former FBI supervisor of the price fixing case, Dean Paisley (played by Allan Havey), with backing from the two other FBI agents and a former prosecutor, went public with praise about Whitacre. "Had it not been for the fraud conviction, he would be a national hero", Paisley stated. "Well, he is a national hero", he further stated.[3][5][6]
Production
In 2002, after completing Ocean's Eleven, Soderbergh announced his intent to adapt the book The Informant by Kurt Eichenwald, a former journalist for the New York Times. Scott Z. Burns wrote the script based on the book.[4]
Production began in May 2008 in Decatur, Illinois. Most of filming will be done in Decatur, Illinois.[4] The film will be released on October 9, 2009. Filming was also done at the former Whitacre mansion in Moweaqua, Illinois, a small town about 25 miles from Decatur. Some exterior shots were done in Mesa, Arizona in November 2008.
Cast
- Matt Damon portrays a top Archer Daniels Midland executive, Mark Whitacre, who works as an informant for the FBI. Damon joined the Green Zone in January, 2008 with the assurance that production would conclude by April 14, 2008 so he could start working on the Steven Soderbergh film, The Informant, on April 15, amidst the scheduling difficulties caused by 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.[8] Damon gained 20-30 pounds for the role in order to look like the doughy Whitacre.
- Scott Bakula portrays FBI agent Brian Shepard.
- Melanie Lynskey portrays Mark Whitacre's wife, Ginger.
- Thomas F. Wilson portrays Mark Cheviron.
- Joel McHale portrays FBI agent Robert Herndon.
- Allan Havey portrays FBI Supervisor Dean Paisley
- Jimmy Pardo and Paul F. Tompkins announced on episode 309 of the Never Not Funny comedy podcast that they both have unannounced parts in the film.
- Scott Adsit portrays Sid Hulse
- Eddie Jemison portrays Kirk Schmidt
References
- ^ Editorial staff (2005-06-18). "The Informant, the Movie". Hollywood.com.
- ^ Webber, Susan (2000-09-25). "Tale of the Tapes". The Daily Deal. Aurora Advisors, Inc. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
- ^ a b c d e f g Cain, Tim (2008-04-06). "Behind the inside man: Mark Whitacre, talks about 'The Informant,' his time in prison and moving forward". Decatur Herald and Review.
- ^ a b c Cain, Tim (2008-03-19). "Don't expect "Informant" hobnobbing". Decatur Herald and Review.
- ^ a b c Muirhead, Sarah (2008-06-02). "Whitacre paid ultimate price". Feedstuffs Magazine. pp. 1, 42, 43.
- ^ a b c Sidhu, Roopam (2008-07-23). "Fresno company connected to Matt Damon movie". CBS TV 47 Fresno.
- ^ Editorial staff (2008-05-16). "What is "The Informant" about?". Patriot Ledger.
- ^ Michael Fleming (2007-08-10). "Rush to judgment". Variety. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
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External links
- The Informant at IMDb
- CBS Fresno interview of Mark and Ginger Whitacre July 23, 2008
- This American Life #168: The Fix Is In (RealAudio) — interview with Mark Whitacre and the book's author, Kurt Eichenwald, from This American Life