Fun Film Trivia from The Informant!
Behind the Scenes on the Comedic Crime Thriller Starring Matt Damon
Sep 17, 2009
The film also stars Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Melanie Lynskey. The Informant! is directed by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic).
Story Background
The film is based on the book The Informant ( A True Story), by non-fiction writer, Kurt Eichenwald. Eichenwald is a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The New York Times bestselling author was a former senior writer and investigative reporter for the New York Times. He has written about corporate corruption and related topics for more than two decades.
Screenwriter Scott Z. Burns wrote the screenplay for The Informant! as a comedy under the direction of director Soderbergh. The book’s many ironical and head-scratching situations, often cultivated by the central character, led to Soderbergh's decision to further develop the humorous undertones in the script. Burns proposed to write the film with a narration generated by the lead characters’ stream of consciousness ramblings.
Burns also wrote the screenplay for the action thriller The Bourne Ultimatum, directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Matt Damon. Together with Lawrence Bender and Laurie David, Burns also produced the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
He worked as a writer, creative director and commercial director, and was part of the creative team responsible for the famous Got Milk? campaign,
Main Characters
- Mark “Corky” Whitarce, the up-and-coming vice president at Archer Daniels Midland with an undetected bipolar disorder, who turns government informer, is played by Academy Award winner Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, the Bourne movies).
- Damon gained 30 pounds, plus wore a prosthetic nose and a fake moustache to appear doughy for his portrayal of the rounder Whitarce. Damon called on Robert De Niro, (who packed on 60 pounds for Raging Bull) for advise. De Niro informed him that "the first 15 pounds would be fun, then, the rest would be work".
- FBI Special Agent Brian Shepard, the earnest and sole FBI agent in the small Midwestern town of Decatur, IL, is played by Scott Bakula (American Beauty, TV’s Quantum Leap and Star Trek: Enterprise).
- Portraying a Midwestern FBI agent on a limited budget, Scott Bakula, who himself hails from St. Louis, suggested was that his character wear the same ties repeatedly. In contrast to Whitarce, who enjoyed wearing expensive and boldly colored silk ties.
- Ginger Whitarce, the perfectly coiffed and loyal wife, is played by native New Zealander Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures, Flags of Our Fathers).
- Lynskey will also be seen with George Clooney, Jason Bateman and Vera Farmiga in Jason Reitman's Up in the Air.
- FBI Special Agent Bob Herndon, the reserved agent, from the FBI’s Springfield office, that joins Shepherd in the investigation, is played by Joel McHale (E!'s Soup, NBC’s Community).
- The casting of Joel McHale was part of a larger concept that Soderbergh had for the casting of The Informant!. The director wanted to cast stand-up comedians, who were not widely known to the public, but, who could use their unique energy to play their characters straight.
- Comedians Patton Oswalt and Paul F. Tompkins appear as FBI Agents Herbst and D'Angelo. Tony Hale plays Jim Epstein, Whitacre's attorney.
- Tom Smothers plays the all-powerful Chairman of ADM, Dwayne Andreas, and Dick Smothers is seen as Judge Harold Baker.
- Comedy legends Tom and Dick Smothers celebrated their 50th anniversary in show business with their cameo roles in Steven Soderbergh’s movie.
On Location
The Informant! was filmed almost entirely on location in Decatur, Illinois and Hawaii. Many of the actual sites where the true events unfolded were used, such as the Whitacre's former house. However, the current owners had the home renovated. Therefore, production design crew had to alter their new contemporary decor back to the original, conservative style of the Whitarce home. Also used, were the real offices that agents Shepard and Herndon occupied, and the hotel where the actual surveillances took place.
The Hawaii scenes were filmed on location at the Makaha Resort in Waianae.
Behind the Music
The score of The Informant! was written by Oscar-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch. It is Hamlisch’s first film score in more than 10 years.
Director Soderbergh suggested Hamlisch reference the soundtrack he composed for Woody Allen's Bananas for the score of THE INFORMANT!. Soderbergh cited that its wacky 70’s style of music would best reflect the culture of the Midwest in the early 90’s.
[Source material courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.]
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