and steadily turned into a great Everyman actor -- is in nimble control as he reveals his character 's deep crazies . Watch why Damon gained 30 pounds for the role '' Soderbergh 's amused study of the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history is adapted from `` The Informant : A True Story , '' an amazing , deeply reported book by New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald . That book told the story without editorial eye-rolling . But somewhere between Eichenwald 's journalistic attention to detail and the bubbly , dialogue-besotted script by `` The Bourne Ultimatum 's '' Scott Z. Burns , Soderbergh has chosen to apply an attitude of arch whoopee , a greasy veneer of mirth over what is , no joke , a serious mess of malfeasance and mental instability . It 's tempting to laugh , but what 's the joke : Whitacre ? ADM ? The FBI ? The fashion trends of Decatur ? Smarty condescension lurks behind the suburban bushes . Had a '90s date and place card not been supplied , I would have remained in an honest muddle about the era depicted on screen . And since Whitacre is
-LRB- Entertainment Weekly -RRB- -- Punctuation promises comedy in `` The Informant ! '' as if the title subject is a cartoon secret agent -- maybe Agent 86 in `` Get Smart . '' Matt Damon , as a corporate turncoat , offers up secrets in `` The Informant ! '' But he 's not . The whistle-blower worthy of an exclamation point in this groovy-looking , chuckle-baiting , fact-based movie from protean director Steven Soderbergh is Mark Whitacre -LRB- Matt Damon -RRB- , a biochemist and well-placed executive at the agri-processing giant Archer Daniels Midland -LRB- ADM -RRB- in Decatur , Illinois . It 's the early 1990s . The company man is helping expose ADM 's alleged global price-fixing activities to the FBI , cooperating with the feds long enough to gather invaluable evidence . But what Whitacre does n't confide to his FBI handlers , and what his wheat-colored jackets , Dilbert ties , and weakling mustache hide , at least at first , is that this inside source is not completely trustworthy . Damon , fattened up to fit his boxy suits , wears Whitacre 's slack demeanor beautifully . The star -- who has quietly