Movie Review The Hustle

The Hustle (2019) 

Directed by Chris Addison 

Written by Stanley Shapiro, Paul Henning, Dale Launer, Jac Schaeffer 

Starring Anne Hathaway, Rebel Wilson, Alex Sharp 

Release Date March 10th, 2019

Published March 9th, 2019 

The Hustle is a remake of 1988’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine. Scoundrels itself was a remake of 1964’s Bedtime Story starring Marlon Brando and David Niven. So yeah, this material has been traversed on multiple occasions and that’s not even accounting for the numerous movies that Bedtime Story was heavily influenced by. Con artists have long been figures of fascination at the movies as they provide a rich playing field for actors and screenwriters alike. 

The Hustle stars Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect’s Amy, as Penny, a boorish Australian con artist who uses a scam involving a sick sister, and a little bit of catfishing, to get men to give her the little amounts of money she needs to get by. It’s small potatoes and when she’s seemingly run low on gullible Tinder dates, she decides to give Europe a shot. Penny is headed to the French Riviera in hopes of finding a bigger game for her cons. 

On a train to a place called Beaumont Del Sur, Penny meets Josephine (Anne Hathaway), a fellow con-artist, though Penny doesn’t know that yet. Josephine has set up shop in Beaumont Del Sur for years, using its lavish, expensive hotels as her hunting ground for rich husbands looking for a good time on the sly from unwitting elderly wives. Josephine isn’t worried that Penny will provide competition, she’s worried that her clumsiness will scare away the bigger fish marks. 

When Penny proves herself to be a little more formidable than expected, Josephine takes her in and begins to teach Penny about higher level cons. A con-job, codenamed Lord of the Rings, is the centerpiece of this early portion of the second act and I really enjoyed it. All three movies, Bedtime Story, Scoundrels and The Hustle, feature this sequence and it proves to be a durable comic sequence, earning some unexpectedly big laughs. 

Unexpected laughs are a hallmark of The Hustle. The disjointed narrative of The Hustle, a series of setups and payoffs with a bare minimum of connective story tissue, works in spite of the structure. The laughs are so big and so often that I actually didn’t mind the obvious flaws in the structure. I somehow didn’t mind that The Hustle isn’t much of a traditional movie and is rather a series of gags, skillfully performed by the talented duo of Wilson and Hathaway. 

On most occasions a movie as faltering in structure as The Hustle would not work for me but I have a notable soft spot for Rebel Wilson. Few people in Hollywood make me laugh as hard as Wilson, who has become one of the most remarkably ingenious comedians on the planet in recent years. Her Isn’t it Romantic from back in February of this year remains one of the highlights of 2019 at the movies and Wilson makes it impossible for me to dislike The Hustle or dismiss it over some very noticeable flaws. 

Those specific flaws are embodied in the character of Thomas played by newcomer Alex Sharp. Sharp is central to the film’s third act and he’s completely overmatched in attempting to keep up with Wilson’s brilliant comic chops and Hathaway’s skillfully light touch comedy. I get that this part requires a performer who appears at a loss consistently opposite the brilliant cons on either side of them, but Sharp is an almost non-existent presence. Those who’ve seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels know where his character arc is headed and I will tell you, Glenn Headly struggled to pull it off in Scoundrels and Sharp doesn’t even compare to her. 

The Hustle was directed by Veep veteran, Chris Addison. Addison has demonstrated a strong talent for gags on Veep and he shows that same flare for setup and punchline in The Hustle. The Hustle unfortunately doesn't have the advantage of being a weekly television series that can more simply perform setup and punchline and pick up narrative strands as needed. Characters have time to grow and for us to get to know them on television. The Hustle doesn’t have time to develop these characters or a deeper narrative, which necessitates the reliance on big gags over what makes movies great.

That said, the laughs in The Hustle are often so big that I can’t pretend I didn’t enjoy it. I can levy a number of complaints about the film, but what matters is that I laughed and laughed loudly and quite often at The Hustle. I can’t say my fellow critics who don’t care for The Hustle are wrong about the movie, they are right in many instances and complaints. I just happen to be in a position to be a great deal more kind about The Hustle due to my adoration for Rebel Wilson. 

Lower your expectations of an actual movie and get set for some funny set pieces and you can enjoy The Hustle as much as I did. 

Movie Review The Ice Harvest

The Ice Harvest (2005) 

Directed by Harold Ramis 

Written by Richard Russo, Robert Benton 

Starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, Randy Quaid, Oliver Platt 

Release Date November 23rd, 2005 

Published November 22nd, 2005 

Director Harold Ramis is best known for lighthearted comedy with an edgy intellect. His best work, 1993's Groundhog's Day, is such a true gem of a film that its polish has only shined brighter in the years subsequent to its release. Most credit for that film goes to Bill Murray's complex curmudgeonly existential performance. But, behind that performance was Ramis' sly, sneaky direction that played games with the audience that many did not discover until years later.

Even in lesser efforts like Analyze This and Analyze That, Ramis has at least delivered moments of pithy intellect and sly commentary. Ramis' latest effort Ice Harvest is nothing like anything he's directed before. A black hearted comic noir so thick with dark irony and detached violence one wonders if a late night cocktail of Pulp Fiction and Fargo somehow festered in Harold Ramis' dreams.

John Cusack stars in Ice Harvest as Charlie Arglist, a low level midwestern mob lawyer whose job seems to be holding down bar stools in mob controlled strip clubs. Charlie had never shown an ounce of ambition until a mobster named Vic (Billy Bob Thornton) convinced him to lift two million dollars in mob money from a local bank.

Getting the money was easy, now Charlie simply has to get out of Wichita. Unfortunately that will have to wait until morning as the entire town is nearly shut down due to an ice storm. Vic also has a few loose ends to tie up before they can go, including his soon to be ex-wife and a mobster, Roy (Mike Starr), who has discovered Vic and Charlie's scam.

Charlie is not simply waiting out the storm either. He is hiding from Roy while being seduced by Renata (Connie Neilsen), the manager of one the many strip clubs Charlie frequents, who is well aware of the money Vic and Charlie stole and has an eye on joining them in their getaway. Before Charlie can close that deal however, there is the matter of his best friend, Pete (Oliver Platt), who has chosen this night to get record-breakingly drunk and only Charlie can help him get home.

Pete happens to be married to Charlie's ex-wife which leads to an awkwardly humorous scene where Pete confronts his wife's growing dissatisfaction with their marriage in the midst of Christmas dinner at her parents house as Charlie stands by saying goodbye to his young daughter and unhappy son who he never sees. Platt is very funny in the scene but his plot really has little or any relation to the rest of the movie.

The rest of the film is full of double and triple crosses, bodies pile up high and all the while director Harold Ramis and writers Richard Russo and Robert Benton can't decide if they are making a dark comedy or a modern noir. Cusack's performance is, for the most part, dark comedy. Charlie assesses every plot development with a cowardly paranoia and suspicion that makes him the butt of every joke and the comic victim of every other character in the film.

In fact most of the cast is playing dark comedy. Thornton plays it cool for the most part but then there is the scene, featured prominently in the films trailer, where he has stuffed Roy in a trunk and comically beats it with a golf club which is straight slapstick. This is followed by a funny exchange in the car on the way to dump the body as Roy, in the box, attempts to save his life by convincing Charlie that Vic is going to kill him too and run off with all the money. The scene is funny but nothing after it is and much of what comes before it is unamusing as well.

As Cusack, Thornton, Platt and Starr are all playing dark comic riffs, Ramis is directing a bleak, mean spirited and violent Coen brothers' style anti-thriller with Neilsen's femme fatale and Randy Quaid's mob boss clearly not in on the rest of the cast's joke. The film shifts uncomfortably from ugly violence to black comedy, never able to incorporate the two in a way that makes both work.

Ice Harvest is shot as confusingly as it is plotted. Certain scenes have the bleak grays and blacks and dark colors of a noir mystery right down the rascotro lighting. Other scenes feature the bright colors and slick styling of any major mainstream comedy. A scene of Charlie standing in the empty frozen tundra of a Kansas highway is straight noir but the scenes between Cusack and Oliver Platt are from a dysfunctional holiday comedy filled with brightly decorated Christmas items. The shooting further muddies the line between the film's noir and dark comic intentions.

John Cusack does find a way to make his hapless loser Charlie work in terms of winning the audience to his side. Even as Charlie engages in some of the bad behavior in the film he retains an air of detached observation. With every dark development Charlie rarely gets riled up, he merely rubs his eyes in frustration and gets down to the distasteful business of surviving this one extraordinarily difficult night.

Oliver Platt's performance is equally as winning as Cusack's. The two actors spark a terrific chemistry in the few scenes they have together. Despite his oafish and even rude actions, Platt's sad sack Pete is very sympathetic in his sad drunken way. Had the film been able to straighten out the problems with its tone Platt and Cusack's performances alone could have made Ice Harvest a worthy effort.

It's not that dark comedy and modern noir are mutually exclusive genres.  It's just a difficult balancing act to make the two elements work together. Fargo, for example, works on both levels because of its exceptional cast and the assured direction of the Coen brothers. Ice Harvest director Harold Ramis is unable to find the balance between the comic performances of his cast and the dark action script.

Ramis wants to escape his reputation as a director of light comedy and indulge his dark side but his comic instincts are uncontrollable and express themselves in the direction of his actors. Ramis clearly wants to indulge his dark side in Ice Harvest but he cannot quiet his crowd pleasing instincts. After years of light, entertaining comedies, Ramis is very in tune to giving the audience the simple pleasures that most seek. Ice Harvest is not a film as a whole that can or should give audiences what they want.

The film's happy ending underscores my point. Watching Charlie escape with the money, and with his pal Pete, I could feel the gears turning as Ramis attempted to please the audience with a pseudo-happy ending. But what did Charlie do to deserve a happy ending? Granted that both Cusack and Platt are very good together and earn our sympathy, their plot is from an entirely different movie. Charlie still did a lot of unforgivable things and punishing him in a darkly ironic way would have been a more appropriate ending.

With a cast this talented Ice Harvest should be far more entertaining than it is. The failure lies with Ramis who, whether unwilling or unable, cannot find a way to mix his comic instincts with this black-hearted script. The result is a mixed bag of darkly humorous moments and awkward modern noir violence. John Cusack delivers a dead-on performance but the film lets him down and more importantly it lets the audience down.

Movie Review: The Ides of March

The Ides of March (2011) 

Directed by George Clooney 

Written by George Cloooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon 

Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Paul Giamatti, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright 

Release Date October 7th, 2011 

Published October 6th, 2011 

It's hard to believe that America has ever been more cynical about politics and politicians than we are right now in 2011. The divisions between Democrats and Republicans are at ocean's depth and that division has fed a distrust of government like nothing since the Civil War. Into this angry, cynical fray comes a cynical movie, "The Ides of March," directed by and starring George Clooney, which audiences will either embrace as a cynical sign of the times or reject as a more of the ugly animus that has weighed on us for several cynical years.

Ryan Gosling is the focus of "The Ides of March" playing an up and coming communications specialist named Stephen Meyers. Though only 30 years old, Stephen is a veteran on the campaign trail. Now, he's the second in command on what may be a game changing Presidential campaign. Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) is the candidate the Democrats have been searching for, a Liberal from a prosperous and politically pivotal state, Pennsylvania, with a spotless record and endless charisma. More importantly, Morris's uncompromising convictions are of a kind that inspires even the most jaded politico, like Stephen.

Grasping at a first opportunity to win the right way, in the arena of ideas, Stephen has become a true believer in Governor Morris. Naturally, such blind faith is a dangerous thing. When Stephen discovers the chink in Governor Morris's armor his devastation has shockwaves that reverberate through the whole campaign. Unfortunately, there is an inherent flaw in "The Ides of March" that cannot be escaped. I won't reveal the secret here but it involves a supporting character who preposterously exists in the lives of Stephen and the Governor. The laziness and obviousness of this character's function undermines much of The Ides of March.

Not only does this character function in a way that is hard to believe, the character is also quite dated. Political scandals have evolved and while the occasional old school, 90's style scandal still bubbles up, the bigger more elaborate scandals involving money and abuse of power are more resonant today. That said, "The Ides of March" contains scenes that are transcendent and would make a better movie into one that would be talked about for a very long time. One scene involves Gosling's Stephen and Paul Giamatti, the campaign manager for a rival campaign, which contains the kind of political inside baseball that political junkies won't be able to resist.

Another great scene involves Gosling and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in which Hoffman delivers a glorious speech about loyalty. Hoffman is Gosling's boss and when he finds out that Stephen has met with Giamatti he unleashes a fury that is Oscar quality. The cast of "The Ides of March" is first rate, including strong supporting roles for Marisa Tomei as a cynical journalist and Max Minghella (The Social Network) as an ambitious campaign operative. The main cast is very good as well but they cannot overcome the flaws of the film's 'twist' and a distinct ugliness that is magnified by our real life political climate.

Movies cannot ignore the times in which they exist, especially one that aims to mimic real life. "The Ides of March" is a mirror image of the negativity and vileness of our current politics. George Clooney has every right to make a movie that reflects our current politics but that doesn't make "The Ides of March" enjoyable to watch. Count me among those who are exhausted by politics; exhausted by the cynical game playing. 

I'm tired of being suspicious of all politicians. I'm sick of all the lying and gamesmanship. I want to believe in something again, anything. "The Ides of March" believes only in the ugliness of politics and while that's a perfectly valid perspective, I don't want to watch this or any movie about this ugliness. I'm tired, too tired for any more cynicism than I am already burdened with. "The Ides of March" invites us only to wallow in our cynicism and I am too tired to wallow.

Movie Review The Illusionist

The Illusionist (2006) 

Directed by Neil Burger 

Written by Neil Burger 

Starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell, Eddie Marsan

Release Date August 18th, 2006 

Published August 17th, 2006 

Bob Yari is the controversial producer of the Oscar winning Crash. I say Yari is controversial because a fallout with his partners on that film prevented Yari from taking the stage to accept the best picture Oscar. The fallout, naturally, was over the cuts of money each of the profit participants were to receive. His partners claim he was cutting himself a bigger portion than the rest. The details of this controversy are left up in the air at this point.

We do know Yari made a tidy sum from Crash, enough to start his own production and distribution company. The production company is typical Hollywood, everyone and their brother has a production company. It's the distribution that is eye-catching. Only major studios usually have the means to get a picture on enough screens for profitability. Bob Yari is himself a major. Yari has somehow managed to finance and distribute the new romantic period piece, The Illusionist; a mature, well acted movie that is making waves in a stronger than expected platform release. If the film can maintain a strong box office, Yari may even try his hand at launching an Oscar campaign.

In turn of the century Austria a magician named Eisenheim (Edward Norton) is astonishing sold out crowds. So amazing are his various tricks and illusions that even royalty must come to see his show. When Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewelll) and his future Queen, Sophie (Jessica Biel), attend a show, Eisenheim chooses Sophie to assist him with a trick. Seeing her face, Eisenheim realizes that Sophie is his long lost childhood sweetheart.

When Sophie finally recognizes Eisenheim they begin a dangerous rekindling of their relationship. Sneaking off to Eisenheim's cottage for forbidden trysts the couple eventually is discovered by Leopold who assigns his chief of police, Uhl (Paul Giamatti), to follow Sophie and if she goes to Eisenheim, the magician is to be killed.

The story of The Illusionist, adapted by writer-director Neil Burger, from a short story by Steven Millhauser, works at a snail's pace and yet manages to enchant thanks to the brilliant topline performance by Edward Norton. Ever the method actor; Norton learned magic from the famed English magician James Freedman as a way to avoid CGI as much as possible. His stage schtick is spot on and his minor conjuring's are as entertaining as any great modern magician.

Of course when conjuring spirits on stage a little CG help is unavoidable. Thankfully, the effects of The Illusionist are minimal and the magic looks as if it were the conjuring's of a true stage magician. The CGI is good and most importantly, it's effective enough to not distract from the main point of the film which are the exchanges of dialogue between the dueling geniuses Norton and Paul Giamatti. The Illusionist is an actors showcase and Norton and Giamatti take full advantage of the freedom offered by director Neil Burger.

Neil Berger, in his second feature film, shows a great deal of skill, and a deft touch in handling his actors. As I mentioned earlier, the film unfolds very slowly and requires the cast to do a great deal of talking. For this task Berger smartly assembled a terrific cast who could handle these talky characters. What Burger does best is direct without ever letting you know it. It's a skill far too many directors fail to master.

What a treat it is to watch great actors working with great material. That is what you get with The Illusionist, a movie that respects its audience, dazzles the eyes and the mind, and allows us the opportunity to watch great actors at work. Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti are a magnificent tandem. The verbal tete a tete, the actorly flourishes, are a joy to watch and clearly, from the exuberance of the actors, a joy to perform.

The romance of The Illusionist between Norton and Jessica Biel is strong if not fiery passionate. The actors do smolder for one another but they don't quite set the screen on fire. The backstory of forbidden teenage love and two terrific teen actors, Aaron Johnson as young Eisenheim and Eleanor Tomlinson as young Sophie, does much of the work of establishing the drama of this romance.

The Illusionist is the kind of fabulous adult minded dramas that many don't believe Hollywood can make anymore. Smart, literate, sexy, romantic, and populated with fantastic actors in meaty roles, The Illusionist is that rare breed of high minded drama that combines high intelligence with mainstream popular storytelling and a stellar cast.

The Illusionist is a must see picture.

Movie Review The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) 

Directed by Oliver Parker 

Written by Oliver Parker

Starring Rupert Everett, Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Dame Judi Dench

Release Date May 17th, 2002

Published May 17th, 2002 

When considering the works of Oscar Wilde one should wonder what this most quotable of writers would say of our current culture. Wilde believed that art should not be popular, and when you consider modern American cinema you might say that we have achieved Wilde's belief. Indeed art in modern American cinema is not popular. Popular as defined as gaining widespread viewership and appreciation. Think of the best filmmaking in this day and age, the most artistic works are very often the least seen. Such is the case with the most recent of Oscar Wilde's works adapted for the screen The Importance Of Being Earnest, artistically brilliant but by previous definition not popular.

The film was adapted and directed by Oliver Parker who previously adapted Wilde's An Ideal Husband to great artistic and little popular success. Parker here re-teams with his Ideal Husband star Rupert Everett, who takes the role of Algernon. One of those brilliant cads who seems to have endless charm and wit yet never a job or responsibility. Algernon's closest friend is Earnest or rather Jack depending on who he is speaking to. Earnest-Jack is played by Colin Firth as an English nobleman who keeps up the appearance of class by taking the name Earnest when in the city and the more respectable name of Jack when at his country estate. Complications arise when as Earnest he meets the woman of his dreams Gwendolyn (Frances O'Connor). Gwendolyn knows him only as Earnest and has a particular affinity for the name that makes confessing his real identity very difficult.

Back at Jack's country estate his new ward Cecily (Reese Witherspoon) is nursing a small crush on the man she only knows as Jack, that is until a visit from Algernon. Of course this too has complications as Jack has warned Algernon to stay away from the country house and especially Cecily. So while Jack is in the city trying to win the hand of Gwendolyn, Algernon travels to the country to meet Cecily. Of course he cannot go as Algernon because the staff would send him away so HE takes on the name Earnest and poses as Jack's brother. Meanwhile Jack as Earnest is trying to convince Gwendolyn's mother Lady Bracknell (Dame Judi Dench) that he is of proper breeding to marry her daughter. Unfortunately his family history is conspicuous at best.

Well everyone knows where this story is going as similar more recent stories have populated films for years. With Oscar Wilde it is never about where the story is going but how it gets there. Getting there in a Wilde story is all about witty repartee and The Importance of Being Earnest overflows with quotable dialogue and farce. Dame Judi Dench especially gets on with the witty dialogue, it seems every line from her character is memorable. Indeed each character's dialogue is so good the story becomes superfluous.

Director Oliver Parker perfectly captures the spirit of Wilde's text, just as he did in An Ideal Husband and he surprisingly tops that film’s sly humor. The performances by Colin Firth and Rupert Everett are superb, especially Everett who seems to have been born for this material. Reese Witherspoon puts on a strong English accent and wears it well. She has a couple of brilliant scenes with Frances O'Conner, likely the funniest in the film.

If I had any complaints about the film they would be that the story goes beyond meaningless. There really is no meaning in the film whatsoever, which may actually have been Wilde's aim, but it strikes a false chord. In fact at the very end of the film Wilde's dialogue calls the whole film’s story into question with a subtle reference to the film’s title that implied an entirely different story altogether. To explain it would ruin the surprise, but it was a reference that in Wilde's time was a scandalous aside despite now having less meaning and impact. See it for yourself if you can figure out the meaning let me know.

Movie Review The Incredible Hulk

The Incredible Hulk (2008) 

Directed by Louis Letterier

Written by Zak Penn

Starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell, William Hurt 

Release Date June 13th, 2008

Published June 12th, 2008 

In 2003 director Ang Lee took a stab at the comic book genre and divided audiences in ways no one could have imagined. Non-comic book fans were enamored with Lee's take on the origin of the Hulk. Fans were left wondering what happened to Hulk Smash! Hulk was a box office misfire costing over 200 million dollars while taking in a paltry 124 million domestic, breaking even thanks to worldwide numbers never changing the perception of failure.

Now the Hulk is back and with Incredible back in the title he is everything that fans have been waiting for. Hulk Smash is back as well.

Edward Norton takes over the role of scientist Bruce Banner and rather than making us endure 20 or 30 minutes of back story Norton and director Louis Letterier cram what we need to know into the credits and then thrust us right into the story. David Banner is living in Brazil, hiding from a US Military, lead by General Ross (William Hurt), that wants what he has inside him.

Fans know that inside Bruce Banner is the result of an experiment gone wrong. Exposed to high levels of gamma radiation, Banner has a hulk inside him that comes out when his heart rate goes over 200 beats per minute. The General needs a sample of Banner's blood in order to synthesize it into a weapon to create super soldiers. Banner knows that is far too dangerous an idea.

Banner is seeking a cure and corresponds with a doctor in New York who may have some sort of breakthrough. Returning to the US, after a spectacular chase scene involving Banner and some US soldiers through the streets of Brazil that gives us our first glimpse of the Hulk, Banner first seeks Betty Ross, his ex love and science partner who has more than just key scientific details for him.

Running parallel to Bruce's story is that of an ambitious and dangerous mercenary named Blonsky (Tim Roth) who volunteers to become Ross's guinea pig for another Banner-esque experiment. Naturally, the experiment goes very wrong and now Ross must turn to Banner and The Hulk for help. .

The Incredible Hulk is the second movie from the gang at Marvel Comics as they begin to take a more active role in taking their legendary characters into the realm of film. The first was Iron Man and that was a huge success. Now The Incredible Hulk which is not quite Iron Man good but works well enough to shine more positive light on the production crews at Marvel.

The script for The Incredible Hulk by comic book movie veteran Zak Penn, with an alleged uncredited polish by Norton, does a terrific job balancing the need for character development with the need for full bore action and effects. It's not a perfect balance, too many times big effects overwhelm and consume the film, but not so often that Norton and his talented supporting cast can't bring it back. 

Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Tim Roth and Tim Blake Nelson provide backup for Norton and though I would like to see Tyler do something more than whimper, she and Norton strike a good chemistry. It is through Tyler and Norton's scenes that The Incredible Hulk gets its heart and humor and given the heavy handed nature of the special effects, the chemistry of these two stars is an essential element.

It's no Iron Man, even with a kick butt cameo by Tony Stark himself, but The Incredible Hulk is strong enough to put the wearying Ang Lee version out of our memories and set up plenty of intriguing storylines for the future of the Hulk series. Keep in mind this quote from the very end of the movie "We're putting a team together".

Movie Review The Informant

The Informant! (2009) 

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Written by Scott Z Burns 

Starring Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey 

Release Date September 18th, 2009

Published September 17th, 2009 

In Hollywood there are stars and there are actors and rarely do they exist in one. People like Tom Hanks or Paul Newman can claim both mantles. Now, after watching the new comedy The Informant! you can add Matt Damon to that select group. In The Bourne series Damon is a star. In The Informant! Damon is both star and actor as he devilishly deals laughs while melting so perfectly into his role that even his hairpiece is acting.

As Mark Whitacre Damon brings midwestern values to the razor's edge between character and caricature. His portrayal of a corporatized doofus from Decatur of Illinois comes ever so close to an unkind parody of a typical Midwesterner. Thankfully, Damon's deft touch and inexhaustible charm keep things at just the right pitch.

Mark Whitacre worked at ADM, Archer Daniels Midland, one of the leading corn processing companies in the world. He began his career as an agri-scientist before being bumped up to the office. Once out of the lab he never really seemed to acclimate to the office. He was good at accepting a paycheck but when his job is on the line Mark cracks quickly under the pressure.

Hiding it all behind a doofusy grin Mark gets himself in real deep trouble when accusations of corporate dirty tricks lead to the FBI getting involved. Scott Bakula plays the lead FBI Agent assigned to investigate, at first on behalf of ADM then eventually gathering evidence against them. Mark willingly becomes his expert witness. Sensing a chance to play spy, and buff his ego; Mark agrees to wear a wire and gather evidence that his bosses are fixing the price of corn.

The story in The Informant is based on a true story. Mark Whitacre is a real guy who indeed attempted to become a whistleblower only to end up admitting to crimes of his own. The book based on Mark's story is the inspiration for the movie and both are terrifically well told stories.

Steven Soderbergh adapted and directed The Informant! with a touch of the absurd. With a jaunty score by the great Marvin Hamlisch and a comically distracted voiceover by Damon, the oddity of The Informant! perfectly matches the oddity of Mark Whitacre whose bizarre, ever escalating absurdity is matched only by his bizarre ability to remain an affably clueless doofus.

What a remarkable performance by Damon. Truly, an Oscar worthy effort. Damon's Mark Whitacre is, if you can imagine, like a non-animated Ned Flanders from The Simpsons all eager to please pep. He can put a bright spin on almost anything and his upbeat attitude is at once charming and utterly hilarious. By the end of The Informant, Matt Damon is earning laughs with just a raise of his eyebrow.

The supporting cast of The Informant! is at once a terrific assemblage of comic talent and a subliminal in-joke from Director Soderbergh to an educated audience. Soderbergh fills the supporting cast with some of the best stand up comics working today. Joel McHale, Patton Oswalt, Bob Papa, Bob Zany, Paul F. Tompkins among others have roles in The Informant.

By stocking the cast with comics Soderbergh effectively creates a funny by association meta-joke. The Informant! seems funnier just by the sight of so many funny people in the cast. It only works if you are a fan of the world of stand up comics and recognize these guys. If you do, it's an extra giddy thrill in what is already a pretty terrific movie.

Funny, smart, exceptionally well directed and featuring an Oscar level performance by Matt Damon, The Informant! is one of the best movies of the year.