Hollywood golden boy Matt Damon does a number on the world of white-collar crime in Steven Soderbergh's "Informant!" screening out of competition Monday at the Venice film festival.

Based on a non-fiction novel by Kurt Eichenwald, the comic thriller tracks Mark Whitacre's machinations as a whistle-blower with "issues" that include looking after number one.

The rollicking tale goes into orbit, touching down in Tokyo, Paris, Mexico City and Hawaii, as Whitacre, who turns out to be bi-polar, "cooperates" with the FBI to expose lucrative price-fixing by the US agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland.

"When I read the book I thought of Matt because Whitacre had a very American, very optimistic attitude and he was obviously someone whom the people he worked with found very likeable," Soderbergh told reporters.

Soderbergh was nominated for an Academy Award for another whistle-blower flick, "Erin Brockovich" starring Julia Roberts, in 2000, the same year he won an Oscar for "Traffic".

To get into character, Damon tucked into some serious food, gaining some 15 kilos (35 pounds).

"It was very, very easy to gain the weight," he said. "It was very, very fun, probably the funnest time I had working, because I didn't have to go to the gym after work and I just ate everything I could see."

Source: AFP