The Rough Cut
Written by Kevin Terpstra
Review of The Informant
Steven Soderbergh has come a long way since his feature debut, sex, lies and videotape. Unfortunately, coming a long way doesn’t always mean there’s been improvement. The first problem with The Informant is that it started too far along in the story. The first five minutes go by so fast; it will leave most viewers confused. After the first five minutes, viewers will have time to play catch up; too much time in fact. The next hour and a half of film moves so slowly. It’s like the ascending portion of a rollercoaster. You sit there waiting for the peak and the adrenaline rush that comes after. The only problem with this rollercoaster is there isn’t an eighty-five degree, one-hundred foot drop waiting at the peak, there’s a twenty degree, five foot drop waiting. While the twist itself is fun and hard to guess, the presentation of it is boring. That’s exactly how I would describe this film. Boring. The biggest problem with this film is the complete lack of dramatic tension. I never really cared what happened next or to whom it would happen. Soderbergh’s attempt to dress up this true story (set in the 90s mind you) as a 1970s crime caper failed to excite me. It just seemed like something to add in an attempt to make it more exciting. Quite possibly the only redeeming quality to the film are the characters and character chemistry. Matt Damon does an excellent job playing agriculture pencil pusher Mark Whitacre. His fellow co-stars (Scott Bakula and Joel McHale) are also great. The scenes that any combination of the three shares are fantastic and presented flawlessly. This, however, isn’t enough to make The Informant a memorable film. Mr. Soderbergh would do well to return to the stuff that made critics and audiences adore him in the first place, flowing drama, no crime capers.
Based on a five star scale, I am awarding The Informant three stars.
Official Rough Cut Review
The Informant – 3/5 stars
