The Insider

Rating:
Summary: solid docudrama
Review: Corporate whistle blowing makes for ideal storytelling material, coming fully equipped, as it does, with many of the raw elements of great drama. For who can resist the spectacle of an Everyman underdog, driven by a courageous sense of personal righteousness and love of humanity, laying his integrity, his livelihood, often even his life itself on the line in the pursuit of truth and justice?

Based on real life events, in which "60 Minutes" compromised its journalistic integrity by buckling under to pressure from the tobacco industry not to run an interview with a whistle blower, Michael Mann's "The Insider" provides a solid, often gripping and always interesting drama that works on several levels simultaneously: as an expose of the shocking moral turpitude occurring at the upper levels of many of our nation's corporate structures, as a view of the life-and-death power struggle that takes place in a legal system awash in corruption and mind-boggling complexity, and as an incisive examination of two men's epic struggle with morality and ethics and the exigencies of doing the right thing in a world where doing the wrong is often both easier and more handsomely rewarded.

Russell Crowe stars as former tobacco executive Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, who, upon being fired for no accountable reason by his company, agrees to tape an interview for "60 Minutes" on which he plans to expose the tobacco industry's secret practice of enhancing the nicotine-based addiction levels in cigarettes. Al Pacino plays "60 Minutes" producer Lowell Bergman, who befriends Wigand and talks him into granting the interview. As `60 Minutes' itself succumbs to the pressure of the corporate entity, the film becomes, essentially, a study of TWO whistle blowers, for Bergman, every bit as much as Wigand, must question his commitment to the company he has so long served and admired. While the two cope with their ever increasing moral dilemmas, the real life drama plays itself out, as Mann casts a scathing eye on corporate malevolence, judicial malfeasance, and, above all, journalistic timidity and compromise. Admirably, Mann never takes his focus off the human drama at the core and he is assisted in that by the first rate performances of his two lead actors. It is no wonder that Mike Wallace has denounced the film in no uncertain terms as a libel and a fraud if there is indeed any truth to be found in his depiction herein. Embodied by an unctuous Christopher Plummer, the character hardly qualifies as a pillar of moral courage and rectitude. One of the frustrations in this type of film, anchored in such recent real life events involving contemporary figures of some public standing, is that we, in the audience are not privy to all the facts as they originally played out, and with the proviso offered that not all the events depicted in the film are true blue and factual, we don't always know just what to believe and what not to believe.

In style, Mann employs heavy use of the handheld camera, which effectively creates a sense of journalistic immediacy and truth. One glaring technical error does, however, stand out. At one point, while two men are carrying on a telephone conversation, one in Kentucky and one in Mississippi, we can see clearly that, in one shot it is nightfall and in the other bright day. Unless one of those two states drastically changed time zones, someone in Mr. Mann's film crew obviously fell asleep at the switch.

Although the film cannot always shake off the sense of déjà vu created by its similarity to a number of whistle blower dramas from the past ("Silkwood," "The China Syndrome" etc.), its no-pseudonyms-please topicality gives "The Insider" a power all its own.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, period.
Review: Anyone who rates this bad didn't get it. What a great mix of documentary & drama style, mixed in with Crowe and Pacino's awesome performances.

This movie tackles several serious "today" issues with realism without preaching too much, like many Hollywood films do.

Great job!

Rating:
Summary: Corruption both big business and journalistic explored
Review: This is one of those films Warners considered their bread and butter in the thirties and forties, the banner to be taken up by Fox in the late forties and early fifties - a realistic look at corruption and the forces of good that attempt to expose it. The material is historical but the filmmakers use the tried and true film formula (most notably by ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN)for bringing it to the screen. It earned seven Oscar noms including Best Film, Direction, Screenplay and Actor (Russell Crowe)but failed to pick up a statue. It is unrelentingly depressing but riveting none the less. Al Pacino delivers one of his best performances and deserved an equal Best Actor nod with Crowe. Christopher Plummer delivers a delicous parody of Mike Wallace. We KNEW the tobabcco industry was corrupt but we didn't know SIXTY MINUTES and the network were - it's surprising the filmmakers were not sued but then if the material they had was factual, a law suit would have only brought the network more shame. At the end of a film like this when good has triumphed but been trampled in the process and even those you trust turn out to be villains, one is left with a most depressing message about the human race and modern civilization - therefore, the cathartic value of such a film is deprived of its raison d'etre - it gets kudos for realism and truth but not for art.

Rating:
Summary: I could not care less...
Review: ...about the films content. Maybe it is really interesting to doom smoking and the companies in America and make a whole movie about that. I do not smoke, I personally believe that smoking is dangerous, and I believe that companies would do anything to raise sales including to make people (even more) addicted. I mean, they do it in cat-food, why not in cigarettes ;-). If you are not interested in "doom the big bad cigarette-companies because people really are not to be held responsible for what they do", maybe, just maybe this film is interesting to you. If you adore Pacino, then maybe this is the film for you. Otherwise the film is boring to death. (And did I say that the camera was... well... interesting).

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous work...
Review: This was one of the year's best films. The cinematography is awesome, and the acting was fantastic. Al Pacino played a devoted journalist who stumbles onto perhaps the century's biggest and most costliest scandals (with regard to human life.) Russell Crowe (Jeffrey Wigand) is a downtrodden businessman/scientist who's life seemingly spins out of control when he is fired from Brown & Williamson.

To regain his integrity and make some sense out of his life he decides to tell the truth about what the tobacco companies really knew about their deadly and addictive product. From there his life becomes a hellish torture of slander and subliminal messages (bullet in the mailbox.) Somehow Wigand manages to keep his sanity and he brings down big tobacco by revealing all in a courtroom.

This film was perhaps Crowe's best work. After seeing Gladiator (Crowe was great in that too) I was impressed to witness Crowe's character range. He went from a aging businessman/scientist to a war scarred Roman army general. Wow, very good work I must say.

Watch this film and see a defining point in American history.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent-by far one of the best films of the year...
Review: This film is one of the most compelling, breath-taking, intense films I've seen in a long while. The film the Insider revolves around a scientist who had been formerly working for the "big tobacco" industry but quit; and although the tobacco company he worked for allowed him to quit they did force him to take a vow of secrecy to remain silent about anything going on within the tobacco industry that he might know about. However, Wigand opts to put himself and his family on the line in order to expose the sick truths behind "Big Tobacco."

In order to be able to expose "Big Tobacco" Wigand is contacted by a journalist working for 60 Minutes named Lowell Bergman, who is willing to set up an interview between Wigand and 60 Minutes alum Mike Wallace (played believably by Christopher Plummer). However "Big Tobacco" will stop at nothing to stop Wigand and Bergman.

The performances in The Insider are nothing less then stellar. Crowe gives a fantastic performance as Wigand, which in my opinion was a performance very worthy of an oscar. Al Pacino gives an excellent oscar worthy performace as well as journalist Lowell Bergman, and another excellent performance by Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes, (he was very believable). So if you're looking for an intense thriller, The Insider won't dissapoint.

Rating:
Summary: Good movie.........worth watching
Review: This was, a good movie I didn't realize this was, a true story til i saw, the end....I don't watch, 60 minutes much well sometimes, this is worth watching.......

Rating:
Summary: A Mann's Film- the Best picture of 1999!
Review: The Insider easily accomplishes 2 things- it gets my vote for best film of 1999 & for best Michael Mann film ever ( and thats saying alot coming from the man who made Last of the Mohicans,Theif,Manhunter...). This movie not only shoots Crowe to superstar status as the brooding informer ( and I thought he shined in La Confidential!), but also managed to get a performance out of Al Pacino that I thought was forever lost! Pacino is so low keyed, and so relentless in his pursuit of the truth that he harkens back to the days of his best roles such as Serpico& Dog Day Afternoon with his character! He eschews the over the top, scene chewing performances that have plagued him since Scarface, thru Dick Tracy, to Devils Advocate! After watching this film I wanted to write/email the real Wigand, harass the tobacco company, voice my disappointment at 60 minutes! It inspired me to civil duty! What higher praise for a movie?

Rating:
Summary: Riveting, fascinating
Review: This is a very good movie. The drama, the dialogue, the performances are all top rate. You don't notice the fact that 3 hours have passed because you are drawn into the story. I was especially impressed with Al Pacino's performance. And there are a number of little things that make the movie enjoyable, such as the interaction of Bergman (Pacino's character) with his wife without melodrama, just normal life, and the consistency of the accents. The accents clearly define where the scene is taking place. These are just examples of attention to detail that fills the movie.

I'm told that this film is fast and loose with the details of the case and the decision not to air the 60 Minutes segment, but that the essence is correct. I would say that the presence of the real people played by Crowe and Pacino (the two main characters) in the making of video verifies that this film is acceptable to them, and so I accept it as well.

There are only a couple of flaws. In the actual movie itself, there are moments of over-melodrama. Thankfully these are few. Secondly, there are few extras on the DVD. A film like this could really use the DVD format and include inside information for those interested in the real facts. I would especially have liked to have seen the real 60 Minutes spot, for example.

Rating:
Summary: a war on drugs
Review: 4 years after the fact, I sat down to watch "The Insider" halfway expecting to see a small part of my life be mangled by Hollywood. Instead, Michael Mann (director of Heat most recently) deftly creates an intreguing story out of what could easily have been a dry subject. While there are definite departures from the reality of the situations (I was a freshman at the high school Jeffrey Wigand taught at when the story broke and I CERTAINLY would have recalled Russell Crowe running about Manual's halls :), Mann uses the story of Wigand the tobacco whistleblower who stands up to big tobacco in the name of science and morality and the TV producer who will do anything to get it to the public (Al Pacino) to raise serious questions about the meaning of loyalty, honesty and the idea of a modern hero. Crowe turns a powerful performance as the flawed but well-meaning Wigand and Pacino is searing as 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergmann. Also notable is Christopher Plummer's dead-accurate portrayal of TV legend Mike "try Mr." Wallace. And as to the location? It's as genuine as the local Smith's Furniture ad in the background of one scene.