Film Rating: A-

Look no further than the exclamation point in the title if you want to learn everything there is to know about Steven Soderbergh's The Informant!. That one exclamation point changes the entire idea behind the title, taking a relatively bland and uninteresting two words and turning them into something exciting. The film itself is full of many little touches that elevate a story about corporate espionage, price fixing, embezzlement, lawyers, and corn into the realm of hilarious, guilt-free fun.

But then again, when the subject of the story is a man like Mark Whitacre, you'd be hard pressed to create something dull or lifeless, because those are the last two words you could possibly use to describe the man. By admitting his company was guilty of price fixing, Whitacre became the highest-ranked executive to ever turn whistleblower in US history. As a government informant, he secretly gathered hundreds of hours of video and audio over several years to present for the FBI. And if the story ended there, then I don't think I could describe this movie as a wacky roller-coaster ride of fun. See, Whitacre had some personality problems which led to...complications. Complications so wild and unbelievable that you simply must see the movie to find out what they were.

The entire film is constructed to reflect Whitacre's state of mind, right down to the brightly colored, exuberant title cards telling us the locations and dates. Every few minutes we're treated to narration by our main character, usually expressing a random thought that is often hilariously unrelated to what is transpiring on screen. The musical score by Martin Hamlisch is as big, overdone and jubilant as it possibly could be. The color scheme and camera works is reminiscent of the sixties, not the mid-nineties, but it all works perfectly. This isn't a movie that takes itself too seriously, because this is one true story that just wouldn't sound credible if done as a drama. Whitacre's story is a comedy of errors, through and through.

The cast is massive but nobody involved deserves more praise than Matt Damon who completely melts into the role of Whitacre. This a performance that could easily have been over or under acted, but Damon approaches it with just the right amount of humanity and goofiness to make Whitacre someone the audience roots for....even when he is being a compulsive liar. Damon gets to explore a pretty wide range of emotions and acting styles here-much more than what he got to do on the Bourne movies. This could be his single best on-screen performance, and I hope to see him in more films that stretch his acting talents in the future.

Scott Bakula co-stars as FBI Agent Brian Shepherd, and all I have to say is the more Bakula we have on screen, the better. Joel McHale plays his partner, Robert Herndon; McHale hasn't ever really been on my radar, but he did impress me as the lead in the wonderful new NBC show Community, and he was very good here too. Melanie Lynskey's character, Ginger Whitacre, is an interesting one-the script doesn't give her any concrete reason to stay with husband Mark, but Lynskey's acting is illustrative enough to inform us. There are plenty of other accomplished comedians and actors in the movie, like Thomas F. Wilson, Tony Hale, and Patton Oswalt, and while the presence of so many comedians in dramatic roles could have been distracting, every role works. There's even a cameo by Frank Welker (the voice of Megatron)-how random.

The best word to described The Informant! is fun-this is a movie that just gets better with each passing moment, as the crashing train that is Whitacre's life moves faster and faster. But I don't really need to tell you that-the title itself informs the viewer that this is an excited movie, and Soderbergh and crew have done everything in their power to live up to the title. Who knew a movie about a lysine price fixing conspiracy could ever be so fun?