In 1992, a great conspiracy was afoot. One that they say affected the lives of every American before they even finished their Wheaties in the morning. A corporate plot of such reach and influence, it pumped billions of dollars into the coffers of CEOs and executives, all the while screwing hapless and unaware consumers everywhere. It was the Great Lysine Price-Fixing Conspiracy, and you've got Mark Whitacre to thank for uncovering it. Kinda sounds like the plot of a great thriller, doesn't it? Or a sister to Michael Mann's phenomenal The Insider from 1999. But it isn't. Not in the least. Director Steven Soderbergh's film about a corporate whistleblower is more farce than fact, yet less quirky than you'd expect.
Matt Damon plays Whitacre, a high level muckety muck at ADM. They do something with corn or something like that. Whitacre is a shaky, slippery nerd who has read far too many Clancy novels. When he thinks he's uncovered a mole in the company who's been contaminating the product, the FBI is called in. But rather than simply giving them what they want to know, Whitacre blindsides them with the idea that his company has been engaging in price fixing. He admits to being a part of it. The FBI, led by Scott Bakula and the Soup's Joel McHale, dive head first into this new investigation, with Whitacre as their primary source. They wire him up, plant bugs all over his office, and Whitacre is right at home being the center of his own personal Clancy novel. That being the case he feels the need to narrate his every action, much to the chagrin of the FBI listening in on the other end. If this were a mobster movie, Joe Pesci would've ripped open Whitacre's button down shirt, seen the wires and proceeded to carve him up like a Thanksgiving turkey. But Whitacre is never discovered and is actually fairly effective at the role.
Too bad he's a moron. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh. He certainly fits the description of a moron: unable to keep his mouth shut when it's a necessity; missing the most obvious points; and a startling inability to keep track of his own stories. But he's no dummy. Whitacre is deceptively sly and convincing, and uses every opportunity to paint himself in the best light possible. He soon becomes more trouble than he's worth to all parties involved.
By far Whitacre is the most interesting aspect of the story. Director Steven Soderbergh, a genius by any measurement, leaves the acute details of the actual event on the sidelines. The real story is far less entertaining and probably wouldn't make for much of a movie, so he chooses to focus on Whitacre's zaniness. Matt Damon plays him perfectly. The hardest thing about a character like this is not playing them like a fool. Damon keeps his emotions close to the vest. It's the character's words and delusions of grandeur that spur most of the comedy. The rest of the cast, mostly filled out by comedians with little real acting experience, are adequate. It's another case of Soderbergh experimentation, and it works for the most part...as long as they're cracking jokes. Although this isn't nearly the quirky comedy that the trailers would have you think it is. It's actually pretty quiet and sortof uneventful and repetitive. After you've seen Whitacre run the same play again and again with different folks, it gets a bit tiresome. We're given access to some of his thoughts, most of which are a random array of insights that have little to do with anything. It comes as no surprise that Whitacre was diagnosed with bipolar disorder not long after this entire escapade.
I found myself getting more interested in the way the movie looked than anything else. Shot in this red filter style that makes the movie look like an episode of Laugh-In, I couldn't figure out exactly what the point behind it was. Was it intentionally to make the film look like a 1970s sitcom? That's odd since the story takes place exclusively in the 1990s. Even the way the characters are dressed is retro. The contrast to me was confusing. It looks amazing to be sure, I just couldn't understand why.
Mark Whitacre the man is intriguing and complex, even if the story he's a part of is a bore. Perhaps I went into this expecting greatness, but whatever the reason I left let down. This would've been a better movie if it could commit to either being played straight up or going entirely the comedy route. It's worth seeing to see Damon playing yet another character with a personality disorder, a type he seems to have mastered better than anybody else.
6/10
