Informant!, The

Aroview: Frantic and frivilous, yet oddly diverting upscale comedy from prolific dir. Steven Soderbergh, with Matt Damon's bland appeal put to surprisingly good use as a company-man-turned-whistle-blower who gets lost in a fog of corporate ethics.

Distingushing itself as a comic riposte to the uptight intensity of THE INSIDER, the director further experiments with tone with splashes of retro-jazz (courtesy of composer Marvin Hamlisch) and production design that makes the early 90's look considerably more dated. It's these flourishes that arguably distract from its fact-based story of price-fixing in the agricultural bi-product industry, but the script is both literate and amusing, particularly when inside the head of its well-meaning but deeply flawed protagonist.

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