Big Food Crimes Equal Big Comedy in "The Informant," Starring Matt Damon
In The Informant, a mustachioed Matt Damon plays Mark Whitacre, a big food executive who blows the whistle on an industry-wide price-fixing scheme involving the food additive lysine. The Steven Soderbergh movie out this fall is based on the true story of Whitacre, who became the highest-ranked executive to turn whistleblower in U.S. history.
As an undercover agent for the FBI, Whitacre helped expose crimes committed by big food companies around the world, who conspired to fix the prices of food additives in what turned out to be the largest price-fixing case to date at the time.
In an interview, the real-life Whitacre said, "It's like I was two people. I assume that's why they chose Matt Damon for the movie, because he plays those roles that have such psychological intensity. In the Bourne movies, he doesn't even know who he is."
Apparently, Whitacre hadn't yet heard the film was being shot as a comedy.
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