Set squarely in the american heartland, delving into the inner sanctum of a global corporation, it explores the shifting boundaries of truth and deception, loyalty and betrayal. Perrys gift for using pure logic and gamesmanship to generate. Its incredible in that its the true story of the biggest. The true story of white boy rick, the fbis youngest informant. The film is extremely well done, an amazingly good adaptation of a book which would probably have you snoozing after fifteen minutes. A corporate culture cornfed on greed in steven soderbergh. At last the movie, the informant with matt damon can be viewed for public consumption opening in theatres on september 18. I know that only a very powerful story could invoke those emotions in me. Ive had kurt eichenwalds the informant on my reading list for a long time. Many times, as author kurt eichenwald vividly described the process of how the fbi groomed their informant, i realized that i was feeling both tense and anxious. This book was a tradeout between me and a friend of mine from work.
With matt damon, tony hale, patton oswalt, lucas mchugh carroll. Now the butchers boy is back at full blast in the informant, a booklength war of nerves that accentuates the best of mr. The book is about a sixyear fbi investigation of an international pricefixing conspiracy by archer. A true story, is the subject of the new movie starring matt damon. Eichenwald has told it masterfully, with the narrative drive of a novel. His real name was shahed hussain, and he was a paid informant for the federal bureau. The books greatest fascination, though, is its expose of the character and the personality of the informant, hence the choice of title. The informant is more deceitful and more spellbinding than many works of fiction.
What raised my interest was hearing a great radio segment from this american life that tells. The serious story behind the informant the informant opened in theaters on friday. Matt damon, scott bakula, melanie lynskey, joel mchale. Host liane hansen speaks to investigative writer kurt eichenwald, whose book, the informant. Although the movie is sometimes played for laughs, the real story was no laughing matter. The script is based on kurt eichenwalds nonfiction book the informantthe film adds the exclamation point merely to denote comedy, not a musical. After strangling his informantand pregnant lovermark putnam became the first active fbi agent convicted of murder.
A pageturning reallife thriller that features deadpan fbi agents, crooked executives, idealistic lawyers, and shady witnesses with an addiction to intrigue, the informant tells an important and compelling story of power and betrayal in america. The chief character provinces that if youre a shareholder. After all, whitacre isnt your average whistleblower. This is simply the best book of its kind, which focuses a telescope as well as a microscope on the workings of the legal system, the fbi, and the justice department. Mark whitacre, a top executive of adm, is the informant. A rising star at agriindustry giant archer daniels midland adm, whitacre suddenly turns whistleblower. It documents the mid1990s lysine pricefixing conspiracy case and the involvement of archer daniels midland executive mark whitacre, inspiring a film adaptation starring matt damon as whitacre. Soderberghs amused study of the highestranking corporate whistleblower in u. What begins as an accountants sleight of hand ends as a tumbling trail, each fork leading to newer and fresher lies. The informant is a true story about archer daniels midland adm and their alleged price fixing in a variety of agricultural markets. In thomas perrys edgarwinning debut the butchers boy, a professional killer betrayed by the mafia leaves countless mobsters dead and then disappears. His novel verukal had an autobiographic touch, while he actually wrote an autobiographic book in ente oudyogika dinangal. Malayattoor was in active politics during his younger days.
Kurt eichenwald talked about his book the informant. Fbi informant joel kinnaman is thrown to the wolves by his handlers. Then, through a series of events that became fodder for two books and a movie, his world of power and privilege blew apart. I guarantee itll keep you reading late into the night. Informant definition of informant by merriamwebster. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. A true story and millions of other books are available for instant access. Based upon the 2000 nonfiction novel of the same name, one may expect a thriller more. Hes bumbling, indiscreet, and grandiose at least in this take on his story.
The informant is a serial killer thriller and it was riveting from the first page. The informant is superb reporting in the service of a great story, one with the drama and suspense of a le carre novel. Discover the full story behind his crime of passion in above suspicion. This was a couple of years following his debut novel the pardon which featured the his subsequent series character jack swytek. I can understand why a movie was made of the informant by kurt eichenwald. I assume thats why they chose matt damon for the movie, because he plays those roles that have such psychological intensity. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the informant. Youll laugh your assets off at the informant, a firstrate comedy for our times and a smart, funny, incredible movie treat. A promising pitch and a catchy setting make for a rather mediocre movie in the informant. Informant definition is a person who gives information. I recently read this second book from florida attorney james grippando, a standalone novel which was published in 1996. Bookpage more plot twists than a john grisham novel. Whatever other movie you thought you were going to see this weekend, forget it and go see the informant. According to fbi agent john anthony, at that time, white boy rick was the single most productive informant the fbi had in detroit.
Be the first to ask a question about the informant. It depicts whitacres involvement as a whistle blower in the lysine pricefixing conspiracy of the mid1990s as described in the 2000 nonfiction book the informant, by journalist kurt eichenwald. Mary johnson who recommended the book actually went to school with mark whitaker, the real informant in the story. He got to read the world is flat by thomas friedman and i got to read the informant.
The informant is epic in scope, a tale of human foiblesof greed, deceit, and arroganceand also of the search for truth. The story of the fbi agent who strangled his informant. Burns, the film stars matt damon as the titular informant named mark whitacre, as well as scott bakula, joel mchale and melanie lynskey. From humble beginnings as the fourth son of an iowa farm family, he parlayed political contributions into influence that reached governments around the world. Here are eight facts you might not know about the film. Trailer for steven soderberghs latest, spy comedy the informant. Eichenwald, 48, author of the nonfiction bestseller on which the movie was based, told stories about why he wrote the book and the role he. The informant is a nonfiction whitecollar crime book written by journalist kurt eichenwald and published in 2000 by random house. Mark whitacre was the highestranking executive in u. Had he opted for a straightforward retelling, the informant.
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