The FBI wasn't really sure what they'd got on their hands when the rising corporate star Mark Whitacre offered to expose a massive worldwide price-fixing conspiracy at his company.
And the trouble with The Informant!, the movie about the case, is that the director Steven Soderbergh seems equally unsure of what he had when the time came to film it.
His confusion is not surprising. What seems initially to be a simple case of corporate greed in the early 1990s is muddied when (spoiler alert) Whitacre is revealed to have embezzled millions of dollars of company funds and, at times, to have a delusional grasp of reality.
The serious issue at the heart of this story is that Whitacre ended up getting a 10-year jail term for his frauds, more than three times as long as the Archer Daniels Midland corporate executives whose actions cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars in artificially inflated prices. Whitacre's actions also prompted such concern by law enforcement agencies that the final result was to deter future whistle-blowers.
A book on Whitacre's case by The New York Times investigative journalist Kurt Eichenwald formed the basis of this movie. It, as well as a 1997 movie featuring Timothy Dalton, is also called The Informant, and the presence of the exclamation mark in Soderbergh's film is indicative.
The much-lauded director behind Traffic and the Oceans 11 trilogy could easily have made a movie similar to The Insider, the serious and slightly turgid 1999 film saved by Russell Crowe's breakthrough performance as the corporate cigarette-industry whistleblower.
Instead, Soderbergh focuses on Whitacre's personal journey and his increasingly tenuous grasp on reality through years of covert wiretapping, investigation and, finally, imprisonment after he is stripped of his immunity.
All this is portrayed in Soderbergh's typically stylish way, drawing deeply on the themes that worked so well in the Oceans 11 trilogy. The trouble is that the subject matter doesn't really lend itself to a lightweight rat-pack crime caper.
Damon does his best to salvage the film with an endearingly manic performance as Whitacre, a role for which he gained 15kg and, well, dorkified himself.
A series of strong performances by the supporting cast, including Scott Bakula and Joel McHale as increasingly exasperated FBI agents and Melanie Lynskey as Whitacre's long-suffering wife, also help, but manage only to stop this movie from being a total disaster.
The film contains characteristics of a movie that has been adapted from a book, including seemingly obscure plot fragments that one strongly suspects relate to a subtheme of Eichenwald's book that has been glossed over in the big-screen adaptation.
The Informant! has drawn polarising reactions from its audiences, prompting lavish praise or disappointment but hardly any middling opinions. At the box office in the US, it was beaten in its opening week by Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
As for the real-life Whitacre, after being released from jail after serving more than eight years, he re-entered the corporate world and rose to become the chief operating officer of Cypress Systems, a California-based biotech company.
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
Honeymoonish
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
MATCH INFO
Al Jazira 3 (O Abdulrahman 43', Kenno 82', Mabkhout 90 4')
Al Ain 1 (Laba 39')
Red cards: Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain)
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
Winner: Ferdous, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-3 Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 2,400m
Winner: Basmah, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6pm: UAE Arabian Derby Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 2,200m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6.30pm: Emirates Championship Group 1 (PA) Dh1,000,000 2,200m
Winner: Somoud, Patrick Cosgrave, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
7pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Group 3 (TB) Dh380,000 2,200m
Winner: GM Hopkins, Patrick Cosgrave, Jaber Ramadhan
7.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Conditions (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: AF Al Bairaq, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
