Amid mediocre Rotten Tomato reviews (high 60’s), but with the hope that the movie would live up to its well crafted, but poorly representative (what else is new?) trailers, my dad and I went to see The Informant tonight. The Informant, (not to be confused with a similarly titled film The Insider, directed by Michael Mann and possibly one of the best films ever made), is director Steven Soderbergh’s most recent film, based on a true story, about Mark Whitacre, former Senior Exec at ADM who became both one of the greatest corporate whistle-blowers of all time, and also one of the biggest white collar criminals simultaneously. Though I knew little about the story, some quick Google fact checking supports most of the depiction of Mark’s life and his efforts to blow the lid on massive corporate theft (international market price fixing), while embezzling (during the time he aided the FBI mind you) more than 9 Million dollars. Regardless of how honest Matt Damon’s depiction of the character was, I will say, he, as usual, did an excellent job, breathing some life to the film. I wasn’t sure what the movie would be about, it just looked like it would be a comedy. The truth is, it really wasn’t very funny at all. Sure, there were a few funny moments, but most of the movie leaves you feeling awkward and even kind of a pity for this bizarre character who was so caught up in lies and deception that he ruined over a decade of his life, and will be, in many cases, somewhat villianized for the rest of his life.
While the film failed to meet expectations (though I’m starting to feel like this is what I can expect out of Soderbergh after all), it did do a great job of illustrating a captivating picture of the human condition. Whitacre, for instance, one of the brightest and most successful individuals of his time, was a thief, but he didn’t start out that way. In fact, if there is a theme in the movie, or rather, if there was a main character, it wasn’t actually Whitacre, but rather it was the amassed tangled web of his lies and deceitfulness that leave your mouth dropping. It’s in fact, hardly at all about the initial crime of his embezzlement, but rather his lie, which led to more lies, which led to a snowball of lies that almost seem delusional. (Remember Martha Stewart?) I guess why I felt pity, more than humor walking out of the theater, is because I’m not sure I, or any one of us are all that different than the man. Sure the magnitude of his failures are probably larger than each of ours, but the fact is, all of us lie. We lie in some way, shape or form often. Whether it’s an overt lie, a white lie (whatever that is) or a more subtle omission of information that might make us look bad… we all do it.
If you are like me, and wonder what scripture says about lying, you’ll find that it aint just one of the Ten Commandments, in fact, the bible is rife with examples of deceit and the disaster that ensues soon after. Just driving home from the Moolah, my dad and I rattled off probably a dozen different clear examples. If you have time, reference the stories of Laban and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, David and Uriah, Samson and Delilah, Cain and Able, Ananias and Sapphira, Peter, Judas, and the grand-daddy and grandma of all deceivers, Adam and Eve. After quick reflection, it’s evident that the bible is trying to tell us something about lying. Whenever God uses this many illustrations, which centralize around a single topic, we should probably take note.
Having wrestled earlier in my faith, and still sometimes today, with the feeling like God’s laws for us are somewhat legalistic, movies like The Informant do a great service in helping illustrate that God gave us his laws, not out of self-righteous piety, but to protect us, his children. For, the same reason that I grab my children sternly when they are about to run into the street, it’s clear that God loves us so much, He’s willing to create boundaries for us to ensure that we can know the true joy of living a life that he’s designed us for.
Having worked in the corporate sector for over a decade, and in fact in similar industries like ADM, it’s actually really easy to relate to the culture of greed and deceit. But we don’t escape it when we go home from work. My kids lie (not out of malice, but maybe out of a joke or even out of a little self-protection); then I think about how I lovingly can illustrate the harm they are causing to themselves and to others by doing that. I guess the best way to teach them is to model real, righteous, vulnerable honesty, even when it hurts.
It’s important to note that the bible gives us examples of amazing honesty as well. Paul for instance, was not afraid to be honest about his allegiance to Jesus, even in the wake of personal harm and eventually death. The most re-assuring example for me in scripture however, is David, because even “the man after God’s own heart” felt victim to lies and deceit. And even though he experienced a life-time of anquish and hardship as a penalty for his sin, He found redemption and renewal in his relationship with God. That’s the kind of thing that can really inspire hope.
From a movie perspective, I’d file this under “RENTER”. But be sure to do just that. It’s maybe not what you’ll expect, but it’s worth seeing, if you want to be reminded of the dangers of deceit, and see an overweight toupee-wearing version of Matt Damon.
PS – It will also give all of you free-range egg lovin, whole-foods grocery shopping, high fructose corn hatin people, just one more reason to hate the Food industry. Man… all of this writing is making me want a Big Mac and a Hostess Cherry Pie. Later!
-Josh Hogan
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