Cereal thriller; MOVIES.

Byline: DAVID EDWARDS

THE INFORMANT! Cert 15, 108mins ****

Amoustachioed Matt Damon piled on 30lbs to play a corporate whistleblower in Steven Soderbergh's latest.

While the title may indicate a thriller, the exclamation mark signals that the man who gave us the Ocean's 11 trilogy is in a mischievous mood, delivering a loopy comedy-drama every bit as mercurial as its protagonist.

Damon plays Mark Whitacre, an Illinois biochemist working for an agri-business that specialises in corn - and price fixing. As he remarks, "Everyone in this country is a victim of corporate crime by the time they finish their breakfast."

When the Feds are called in, he agrees to cooperate by wearing a wire and starts to fantasise about being a secret agent, even calling himself 0014 since he's twice as clever as James Bond.

With Whitacre's increasingly eccentric voiceover, a perky score and a hero we don't know whether to root for or hiss at, it's not an easy film to get a handle on. Stick with it, because although The Informant! baffles, it eventually rewards.

THE REEL LOWDOWN IF YOU LIKED... The King Of Comedy... YOU'LL LIKE THIS.

CAPTION(S):

INFORMANT: Wired up FANTASIST: Matt Damon