From the moment Mark Whitacre is introduced in “The Informant,” he is a likable character, and this feeling stays true throughout the movie, but not without some twists and turns that keep the movie interesting and the moviegoer on the edge of their seat.

Matt Damon beautifully portrays Whitacre through his on-screen performance and his voice overs in the film.

Director Steven Soderbergh opens the story with Damon’s voice spouting out many random thoughts about Whitacre’s job. It seems if a thought pops into his head he wants the audience to know about it. This style of presenting information casts a tone of black humor over the film. This is not a comedy, but Soderbergh and Damon have found a way to make it humorous without going over the top.

The movie opens in Decatur, Ill., and weaves everywhere from Tokyo to Paris to Mexico City to Hong Kong. Whitacre has made it to upper management at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), an agri-business company in the lysine business. Lysine is an additive used in the livestock business.

Whitacre’s story is one of lies, deceit and price-fixing. The movie was based on a nonfiction book by the same name from journalist Kurt Eichenwald.

Whitacre voluntarily turns whistleblower on ADM and provides the FBI with hours of tape involving a price-fixing scandal. The longer Whitacre stays undercover for the FBI, the more grand his lies become, and he eventually gets lost in his lies.

As the story unfolds it is obvious there is something not quite right in Whitacre’s train of thought and the way he handles himself. The final act of the movie describes his condition and is acted brilliantly. It gives the movie a great closing quality.

The peculiar theme through the movie is the web of lies that Whitacre builds during his years as an informant. Moviegoers will not know what to believe as the truth or discard as a lie by the time it is finished. Even the last scene of the movie leaves a question to be asked by the audience.

Soderbergh’s up-close and personal way of shooting the movie does a wonderful job of displaying the intriguing characteristics of Whitacre. Damon makes the audience like Whitacre immediately, and never loses that likability.

Scott Bakula invokes a sense of reality and grit as special agent Brian Shepard, the agent Whitacre originally confesses to about the scandal. Melanie Lynskey portrays Whitacre's wife, Ginger, compassionately and delicately. The audience can see this woman would do anything to protect her husband, and she is the one who pushes him to blow his whistle in the first place.