The Informant!

2009 / US

Dir: Steven Soderbergh/ Cast: Matt Damon, Lucas McHugh Carroll, Eddie Jemison

Based on the true story of the highest-ranking executive to turn whistleblower in US history, Mark Whittacre (Matt Damon) exposes his company’s multi-national price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI.  Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the common man and handed a promotion.  But before all that can happen, the FBI needs evidence, so Whitacre eagerly agrees to wear a wire and carry a hidden tape recorder in his briefcase, imagining himself as a kind of de facto secret agent.

Whitacre’s surveillance work is accompanied by his own major infractions and struggle with biploar disorder The film focuses on Whitacre’s meltdown; after being confronted with evidence of his fraud, Whitacre’s claims in his defense begin to spiral out of control.