Scott Bakula and Matt Damon talk strategy in Steven Soderbergh's eccentric new comedy, 'The Informant!'

Credit: Warner Bros.

Scott Bakula is, by all accounts, a good guy.

Maybe I should capitalize that.  A Good Guy.  The kind they don't make a ton of, and certainly not the kind you typically encounter interviewing actors.  That's not to say actors aren't decent folk.  They are, by and large.  But there's something more to the notion of the Good Guy.  Bakula is manly, but not threatening.  He's amiable, but not goofy.  There's a gravity to him, but with a perpetual sense of humor.  I am baffled by the idea that Hollywood never really figured out what to do with him.

Still, he works, and sometimes, he's even given something good to do.  "The Informant!" is one of those cases, and he's dryly hilarious throughout.  His work here is a reminder of just how understated and expert his performances can be, and I hope other directors see it and wake up to all the unrealized potential on display.

Here's our chat:

[more after the jump]

"The Informant!" opens September 18th.

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