Steven Soderbergh uncovers the funny side of price-fixing scams and corporate espionage in this real-life tale. There are shades of the director's earlier Erin Brockovich here, except that Matt Damon is overweight, insecure and endearingly naive as the whistle-blower of the piece. He plays Mark Whitacre, a biochemist and top executive at an agricultural conglomerate who buckles under the pressure of spying for the FBI. We're made privy to his addled thoughts in a wry voiceover, but the tension of leading a double life doesn't come across quite as strongly in scenes at home with his trusting spouse (Melanie Lynskey). Damon conveys the vulnerability of his character, but the script fails to explore why Whitacre makes the choices he does. He's simply buffoonish. It's left to Scott Bakula to draw out the tragedy of Whitacre's situation, playing the FBI handler who must treat him with kid gloves as his behaviour becomes increasingly erratic.

A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Mark Whitacre suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company’s multi-national price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI, Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the common man and handed a promotion.