Director Steven Soderbergh has been able to deftly switch between serious subjects (TRAFFIC, ERIN BROCKOVICH) and breezy fare (the OCEAN’S trilogy), but his latest actually pulled a swerve — I was expecting THE INFORMANT! to be more THE INSIDER than the slapstick tone implied in the trailer. Guess the punctuation should’ve given it away…
The movie is based on the true story of a crooked agriculture corporation being investigated by the government, with Matt Damon as the chubby executive who’s all too eager to become a spy and collect evidence. It’s also a parade of familiar faces: Scott Bakula, Patton Oswalt, Tony Hale (“Arrested Development”), Thomas F. Wilson (Biff!), Joel McHale (“Talk Soup”), and I’m pretty sure I spotted Clancy Brown in there…