The U.S. government decides to go after an agro-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president-turned-informant Mark Whi... Read allThe U.S. government decides to go after an agro-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president-turned-informant Mark Whitacre.The U.S. government decides to go after an agro-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president-turned-informant Mark Whitacre.
- Awards
- 1 win & 21 nominations total
- Alexander Whitacre
- (as Lucas Carroll)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTo prepare for the role of the overweight character Mark Whitacre, Matt Damon purposely gained weight prior to filming. He did this by eating lots of hamburgers, pizza, and dark beer, which he described in an interview as being "really, really, really fun."
- GoofsThe film takes place from 1992-1994, yet the cars have Illinois license plates that first appeared in 2001.
- Quotes
Mark Whitacre: When polar bears hunt, they crouch down by a hole in the ice and wait for a seal to pop up. They keep one paw over their nose so that they blend in, because they've got those black noses. They'd blend in perfectly if not for the nose. So the question is, how do they know their noses are black? From looking at other polar bears? Do they see their reflections in the water and think, "I'd be invisible if not for that." That seems like a lot of thinking for a bear.
- Crazy creditsPrologue: "While this motion picture is based on real events, certain incidents and characters are composites, and dialog has been dramatized. So there."
- SoundtracksTrust Me
Music by Marvin Hamlisch
Lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
Produced and Performed by Steve Tyrell
Steve Tyrell appears courtesy of E1 Music
The true story of Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) who worked for a giant firm that produced lysine chemicals in products to be consumed by humans. Whitacre maintained a degree of honesty and integrity to his work, but when he uncovered evidence of price fixing with rival foreign companies, he turned undercover informant for the FBI...but, as events rolled on, it would appear he may have known a bit more about what was going on himself than he was letting on.
Playing like a lighter version of 1999's The Insider, Steven Soderbergh's dramatization of corporate corruption in the early 90s is amusingly on edge through-out, with Damon's constant muted voice-overs gently guiding us along this tale of principles and ethics clashing with corporate greed and deception. Damon is affable enough in the lead role (certainly hard to think of any actor who could have done it better) and the story is pretty relevant and dynamic. There's nothing about it that really makes it unforgettable or brilliant, but it's certainly worth a bit of your time. ***
- wellthatswhatithinkanyway
- Nov 9, 2010
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Người Chỉ Điểm
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $22,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $33,316,821
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $10,464,314
- Sep 20, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $41,771,168
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1