Monthly Archives: March 2010

Matt Damon in “The Informant” directed by Steven Soderbergh.  Ehh.  Damon gives a good performance of a strange and ultimately sad fellow, a biochemist? who blows the whistle on his own coporation’s corruptions—global price fixing and kickbacks—but in the process reveals himself to be a compulsive liar, maybe bi-polar, maybe not, who mucks up everyone’s case, including the FBI’s.

After finishing it—and even while in the middle of it—I kept saying to myself—who in Hollywood or wherever pushed this project through to production and why on earth?  It is billed as a “dark comedy” but it just doesn’t make much of an interesting story finally just a sad one and not sad enough to be interesting or worth telling.  Damon soldiers through it with a good deal of good spirit than anyone else in the project.   That’s about it.

Few days later I have had second thoughts and realized that I missed a big and obvious thing here—that the whistleblower—the informant/attacker gets so riled at the flaws of those he works for–the authorities–yet manages to keep in an entirely separate–and sealed–container, his own flaws and failings–some of which–the central ones—are mirror images of the flaws he has whistleblown about.  Why did I miss that?

Thought about it in terms of Christopher Hitchens.  He is on Slate now going after the pope about the abuse scandal in the church—something Hitchens loves to do with great great zeal.  But in his own forthcoming memoir he confesses to his boyhood schooldays adventures in crossing over the gay/straight line(s).  Not the same thing as the abuse scandals in the church.  But maybe not far enough away for everyone to be comfortable.  In this sense:  under further interrogation and revelation, will Hitchens have anything more to say about these things?  Some commentators are already saying—oh for god’s sake why do we need a memoir now from this famously bad boy bad boy public scold and greatly umbraged (always) moralist?

“Broken Embraces” by Pedro Almodovar.  Here a Master at work, throwing pearls to all of his adorers and the cognoscenti.  Maybe not the greatest movie of his career but with lots of hallmarks and much better than many others and most importantly a joy to watch from beginning to end.  Intelligent and soapy, fluffy and deadly serious, kitsch and pop and serious stuff.  Wonderful.