‘The Informant!’ finds comedy in whistle-blowing

The Informant!

Warner, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99

Boundary-pushing director Steven Soderbergh temporarily abandons his cinematic experiments (sort of) for the rollicking corporate intrigue comedy “The Informant!,” which stars Matt Damon as real-life whistle-blower Mark Whitacre. Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns use a funny Damon voice-over to help explain the ins and outs of price fixing and FBI stings, while also exploiting the viewer’s natural sympathy with Damon to do a clever bit of sleight-of-hand with the plot. Rarely has it been so fun to be fooled. Soderbergh and Burns go into how they did it on the DVD and Blu-ray, which also contains deleted scenes.

The Box

Warner, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99

The supernatural thriller “The Box” is inspired by Richard Matheson’s diabolical short story “Button, Button,” about a couple given the opportunity to collect $1 million at the expense of a stranger’s death. In expanding the tale to feature-length, writer-director Richard Kelly packs in background on nearly every character and continues on past Matheson’s original ending to reveal ironies upon ironies. The results are undeniably entertaining, though a lot of the fun comes from marveling at the dopey directions Kelly takes the story. The DVD includes an interview with Matheson; the Blu-ray adds a Kelly commentary and featurettes.

The Damned United

Sony, $28.96; Blu-ray, $34.95

American audiences might be apprehensive at first about “The Damned United,” a lightly fictionalized version of what happened when Brian Clough -- one of the best soccer coaches in the history of English league play -- endured a disastrous 1974 stint at the helm of the league’s best team. But director Tom Hooper and screenwriter Peter Morgan keep the story and stakes clear, even for people who can’t tell the FA Cup from the European. The DVD and Blu-ray contain a chummy commentary track with Hooper, Morgan and star Michael Sheen, plus further information on the making of the movie and how soccer changed in the ‘70s.

Nurse Jackie

Season One

Lionsgate, $39.98; Blu-ray, $39.99

Edie Falco plays a righteous healthcare professional with a closet full of skeletons in the Showtime comedy-drama “Nurse Jackie,” the first 12 episodes of which are now available on DVD and Blu-ray (supplemented by commentary tracks and pro-nurse/pro-Falco featurettes). The series’ “damaged hero” premise has become a little clichéd in the years since “The Sopranos” made bad behavior attractive, but the show does offer a refreshingly frank spin on hospital life, and Falco gives a charismatic performance as a saint who can’t stop sinning.

The September Issue

Lionsgate, $29.98

R.J. Cutler’s solid-but-too-restrained documentary “The September Issue” looks into what it takes to put out Vogue’s most important annual publication. The movie doesn’t shy away from revealing Vogue editor Anna Wintour as a chilly, somewhat capricious boss, but neither does Cutler really dig into her character or the changing times for the magazine business. “The September Issue” makes some good points about how fashion is fleeting, but mostly it just stands back and observes, a bit too casually. Cutler goes into a little more detail on the DVD, which includes a commentary track and deleted scenes.

And...

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant

Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $36.98

Crude

First Run, $24.95

Everybody’s Fine

Miramax, $29.99

All titles available Tuesday.