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Steven Soderbergh has made a fascinating character study of a compulsive liar. Based on a true story, this film shows how someone’s motivations for “doing the right thing” might not always be based on solely catching the bad guys.

Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon, THE GOOD SHEPHERD) was the youngest vice president at ADM, where he was in charge of producing Lysine from corn. He tells his boss Mick Andreas (Tom Papa, BEE MOVIE) that the reason there is a destructive bug in the Lysine processing plant is because the Japanese have a mole in the company and are demanding millions to stop sabotaging the production. The company calls in the FBI, which gets Mark very agitated. When FBI Special Agent Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula, TV’s QUANTUM LEAP) comes to his house to tap his line in his investigation of the blackmail, his wife Ginger (Melanie Lynskey, HEAVENLY CREATURES) pushes Mark to reveal a price-fixing scheme between ADM and the competition.

Agent Shepard and agent Bob Herndon (Joel McHale, TV’s THE SOUP) are assigned the price fixing case. But they need Mark’s help. This begins Mark’s two and a half year cooperation with the FBI where he taped meetings between ADM execs and competitors. But it’s not as easy as that. Mark isn’t always honest with the investigators and case changing surprises will pop up often.

Damon crafts Whitacre uniquely. He comes off as hapless and flighty most of the time. During key moments, his mind wonders to seemingly unrelated facts. The further he gets involved in the investigation the cockier and more clueless he becomes. He’s under the impression that when the FBI catches the bad guys at ADM, he’ll be in a great position for a promotion. Is he stupid or is something else going on? At one point another FBI agent asks Shepard and Herndon, why a man making six figures would turn whistleblower; what’s his angle? Herndon repeats what Whitacre has said, he views himself as the man in the white hat. Or at least that’s how he wants to see himself. Like it always is, the truth is far more complex than black and white.

Soderbergh goes for a droll satirical style rather than outright laughs. Whitacre isn’t a likable character, but we can sympathize. Who hasn’t ever been caught in a lie that they try to take too far? Whitacre just doesn’t know when to give up. An acting rule is that the villain shouldn’t think he’s the villain. That’s how Whitacre has cast himself.