Strangely overlooked in this year’s Oscar nominations — even for Marvin Hamlisch’s kinetic score — The Informant! gets inside the highly unreliable thoughts of Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon), a biochemist turned whistleblower for Archer Daniels Midland. Amid beige cubicles, the story unravels in surprising and funny ways, complete with bad disguises and James Bond-style tactics gone wrong.
Hamlisch is also the composer behind the musical A Chorus Line and the movie The Sting. In a recent visit to Studio 360, Hamlisch sat behind the piano and conjured up the melodies from his long list of musical credits.
The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!