Classic Movie Review: The Informant! (2009)

Steven Soderbergh's dark comedy The Informant! is one of those movies that has all the hallmarks of being a big blockbuster, but somehow failed to engage with audiences on the level it should have. Matt Damon was at the height of his late 2000's fame, having just finished doing the Bourne movies, but this character driven flick couldn't be more different from those movies.

Mark Whitacre (Damon) is a executive for the food processing corporation Archer Daniels Midland who is unhappy about a price fixing scheme that his employer and their competition are engaged in. The FBI is contacted after a blackmail attempt is made by a Japanese competitor and Mark reveals his true intention of being a whistleblower to Special Agent Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula). Mark soon embarks on the task of making a series of audio tapes that detail the nature of the price fixing scandal. But once the investigation is finished, it is revealed that Mark had also been embezzling ADM of millions of dollars and the numbers rise and rise as he struggles to keep up with the lies he has been telling.

The most enjoyable part of this movie is watching the character of Mark get more and more flustered as he goes from one lie to another. He thinks that he has everything in control and in his narration, he often alludes to the fact that he thinks he is the hero in some spy thriller. His stream of consciousness narration reveals that inside his head are just the most bizarre and abstract thoughts and we see that he has them during either important business meetings or meetings with the FBI. The character is made all the more effective from Damon's superb performance. This is mainly due to his preference for serious roles (I don't consider The Martian a comedy, but his roles in Kevin Smith's movies are pretty funny), but here he is absolutely silly and that's made more evident by the fact that the other actors are playing their roles with the utmost seriousness.

The supporting cast is phenomenal as well. Scott Bakula, known for his science-fiction TV outings more than anything, plays one of the most sympathetic law enforcement officials I have ever seen. You just feel for the guy as you see how betrayed he becomes after hearing about his actions. Melanie Lynksy is fantastic at playing Mark's strong yet long suffering wife. The rest of the cast is padded out by comedians playing the straight role. These include Joel McHale, Patton Oswalt, Paul F. Tomkins, Tony Hale, Andrew Daly and Scott Adsit.

Legendary composer Marvin Hamlisch lends his talents to make the score for this movie and it's safe to say it's a doozy. He manages to place long, dramatic, thoughtful pieces in succession with short choppy pieces that bounce along. There is also a track that complements an FBI raid in such a way that you think wouldn't go well with the theme of the scene, but he manages to pull it off. In a way though the soundtrack really represents the character of Mark quite well because it is just as all over the place as he is.

The Informant! is a fantastic character study about a guy who believes his own lies. And after watching it, you believe that fat Matt Damon is the only actor who could pull off such a delusional character. A must watch for people who see Damon as that good-looking guy who everything goes well for.

Classic Movie Review: Detroit Rock City (1999)

Detroit Rock City is  rocking romp about four teenagers trying to see the titular 1978 KISS concert. It is chock full of references to 70s pop culture and the soundtrack blasts out tracks from late 70s/early 80s rock and disco.

The four guys are Jam, Hawk, Lex and Trip and for years they have been trying to see KISS in concert and this time around they aren't letting anything get in the way of seeing one the band's most memorable concerts, whether that be Jam's Christian crusading mother (Lin Shaye of Something About Mary fame) or the fact that they have no tickets. But luckily one of the guys wins tickets to the concert in a radio contest and the guys go off on their journey to Detroit, rescuing Jam from a boarding school and getting into a fight with some guidos (male disco fans in this films parlance) along the way. One of the stellas (a female disco fan) gets a ride with the guys to city.

The guys reach the city, only to find out that they didn't win the tickets due to Trip's incompetence. So the guys go their separate ways to try and get into the concert. Hawk tries to get money to buy a ticket of a scalper by entering a male stripper contest hosted by pornstar Ron Jeremy, but instead ends up whoring himself out two Gene Simmons' long time girlfriend Shannon Tweed. Lex, who had his car stolen, decides to try to sneak into the concert only to get caught and thrown into a car yard which holds his car and the girl who they picked up on the highway (played by American Pie's Natasha Lyonne).

Trip decides to steal some tickets from some defenceless kid, who ends up has an older tougher brother, and ends up getting beaten up and his wallet stolen. However, he does save the day at the local convenience store when it is held up. Using a 70s icon, a Stretch Armstrong, he is able to trick the gunman into thinking he has his own weapon. Jam doesn't even get to come up with a plan, because lo and behold, his mother's church group (Mother's Against The Music Of Kiss) is campaigning against the concert. He is whisked away by his mother and ordered to go to confession, where he reunites with his high school crush. Jam also ends up standing up to his domineering mother.

Just before the concert the guys reunite outside Cobo Hall, the venue of the classic concert. They are at a loss and despondent and are about to give up when they try a new plan where they beat each other and hope that they will be able to convince the ushers at the door that someone beat them up and stole their tickets. As they tell the ushers this, Trip sees the group who stole his wallet and accuse them of beating him up and stealing their tickets. This works and they end up seeing the concert.

So this movie is just one fantastic romp through a 70s music environment. Speaking of music, this movie's soundtrack is in perfect sync with the film's events, such as Thin Lizzy's Jailbreak, when they are breaking Jam out his boarding school.

The two performances that stick out to me are from Terminator 2's Edward Furlong (Hawk) and Jungle2Jungle's Sam Huntington (Jam). They are both really fantastic in their roles. It is also worth noting that KISS member Gene Simmons was behind this movie and thanks to him we now having a greatly entertaining musically driven comedy.

Verdict: This movie is a lot of fun and highly quotable, one of my favourite lines is shouted by Jam through a loudhailer at his mother's protest (I just lost my virginity in a confessional booth, Lord have mercy). I was introduced to this movie by my brother when I was 14 and it shaped my music tastes for many years afterwards. Definitely worth a watch.