The day in the library was pretty samey with the one thing that stands out was a member of the press telling us that were working that the new George Clooney/Jason Reitman film Up In The Air was a wonderful film. Its great when these guys give their opinions out, they are so knowledgeable and passionate. I now want to see Up In The Air, it was on my radar faintly as something i wouldnt mind seeing it now rockets up the leaderboard to be something i must see. Also i generally shot the shit with my coworkers which is always a blast.
Oh, how could i forget, Drew Barrymore was in the hotel doing a press conference for her directorial debut, Whip It, which is a film about roller derbys. A rumour filtered up to us in the screening library that Barrymore was getting photos taken a few rooms along from us so we staked out the door way in the hope of a glimpse. Sadly I think we were given a bum steer as a fair amount of time passed and no Josie Grossy appeared.
note: Josey Grossy was her characters nickname in a guilty pleasure film of mine, that being Never Been Kissed.
Lets move on however because all my TIFF excitement on day 6 happened after my shift. To give some context to my post, my good lady had a day off her work so was looking forward to me coming home early to spend some time together.
However, I had Steven Soderburgh's new film on my mind. So I walked down to Ryerson University (where the film was playing) to see what the crowd was like. The queue was pretty huge so i sat on the wall in the rush queue and hummed and hawed about going in. I was going to go home but then i was offered a free ticket from someone in the queue. I took it and thought "if it sucks and im not really into it i will leave after half an hour" i even text the girl words to that effect. I did this thinking and texting while walking into the theatre.
I took my seat about halfway down the left hand side of the theatre, on the last seat, it was a still a good seat as it was a narrow auditorium so though i wasnt head on i wasnt far off it. Well you could knock me over with a feather with what happened mext, you wont believe who was sitting roughly ten rows directly in front of me, only father son directors Ivan (Ghostbusters) Reitman and his son Jason (he of Juno and Thank You For Smoking fame, also Up In The Air; the film which has come with great recommendations as i mentioned earlier in this post) More on those guys later. Heres a review of The Informant!
The Informant! follows the story of Mark Whiteacre, a whistleblower on his own company back in the 1990s. On the surface thats what its all about, however like most things its actually a little deeper than that but unlike other whistleblower dramas (The Informer and.....eh, hmmm....) Mark's story which unfolds before us is a little different. In fact Steven Soderbergh has created a slice of absurd comedy gold from the themes of corporate corruption.
The casting is terrific, all the minor roles are picked up by faces you will undoubtedly know from sitcoms and cult comedy films from previous years, Patton Oswalt (King of Queens), Tony Hale (Arrested Development), Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men) etc. but they all play the absurdity of the situation totally dead on straight making their turns all the funnier. Melanie Lynskey i suppose has more than a bit part as she plays Mark's wife but as she is probably most famous for her turn in Charlie Sheens sitcom vehicle she makes the point better than most.
As the FBI agents assigned to Whiteacre's case, Scott Bakula and Joel McHale are excellent, the deadpan style of the acting in the film not bucked by either. their constant flabergasted expressions as the story unravels is a joy to watch.
If it feels like i am skirting over the cast performance rather quickly its because I am eager to get to Matt Damons performance as it blows every other one off the screen. I would usually be reluctant to say (because 1. who listens to me and 2. it would really bother me if i gave a bum steer on this) but for this performance i dont care, i wil just come out and say it. Damon's performance in this is Oscar worthy. It really is sublime, to play someone who is on the edge of their nerves with such terrific comedy timing is a credit to him. If the advertisers are trying to pin this film on a "hey look at damon and his funny moustache" then it is a shame as his acting performance is really all it needs to sell it. If the Bourne series proved that Damon had it in him to be an action star then this simply proves that he has the chops to pull off anything else. Awesome.
I should also mention the score of the film which is delightful. A zany 70's style quirky intrumental style music for a 90's set whistle blower movie may seem odd in the extreme, however when the musics relevence dawns upon you it all makes sense. Sucha clever idea used to highlight one of the films themes. The script is also tops, the internal voice inside Mark's head says the most mundane of factoids for no real reason and the way the story builds to a such a dizzying climax is a testament to the terrific plotting. A smashing return to the mainstream for Soderburgh.
I have mentioned the fact that advertisers seem to be pinning the success of this movie on a fat faced and a moustachioed Damon girning from the posters. This niceley ties into the point i was making on a previous TIFF post about poster design.
Take the poster above its the poster most commonly seen for this movie are of the plump faced star with a tache looking absently out, but there is another (in fact there is probably loads, films have hundreds and hundreds of posters now) and it is far more intersting. Its this:
This is the first poster i saw to promote the film, and it actually represents the story a lot better and sums up the point i was trying to make in earlier posts. I really have had my head turned in this poster thing. I mean this poster depicts a bit of madness, a bit of a split personality in our main character, it talks in pictures of plot and theme. Its a good poster. I guess the more generic orange one does that too but more powerfully it says "MATT DAMON IS IN THIS AND HE HAD A FAT FACE AND A MOUSTACHE, THAT WILL MAKE HIM FUNNY, THIS IS A FUNNY MOVIE AND IT HAS A MAJOR HOLLYWOOD STAR IN IT, AND HE HAS A MOUSTACHE, THATS FUNNY, GO SEE IT" which kind of isnt what its all about.
Also it has text over the face, thats kind of ugly, no? But we have to get the big Damon mug to plug the film but also say something so it jsut goes over the top, quite aesthetically displeasing. Thing is, it kinda gives the wrong impression because this is an intelligent movie thats funny. It has a point. It should be seen because its a good film with great performances not just becuase Matt Damon is hot property right now and ate loads of burgers to look different and sports a stache (have i nailed the point home enough?) hey, and listen, if Damon isnt on your radar or you find him irritating is some way (people do i expect) then the time has come to bury the hatchet because Damon is in the A league in his generation. Up there with the Clooney class, and should be lauded. Ace film, make a bee line to see it.
After the film i scooted home to face the wrath of my dear mrs. I took my lumps though because i am glad i saw the movie and also i saw the Reitmans which i clean forgot about and will tidy up in the next instalment.
cheers for reading
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