Rating: 
Summary: Michael Mann's best work yet.
Review: After ripping myself from a theater seat after seeing "Heat" for the first time, I thought I would never see a better movie. I was proven wrong however, now that I have seen "The Insider", furtunately, it was Michael Mann that proved me incorrect. The use of Crowe and Pacino in this film was a graet balance of acting skill. I was surprised by Pacino's decrease in volume in this movie after such great performances in "The Devil's Advocate" and "Heat". Michael Mann also has a keen eye for fantastic use of the camera in this film.(...)
Rating:
Summary: l999's real Best Picture
Review: The oscars are a sham. The pictures with the most advertising in their campaigns won the awards. Without a doubt the Best Picture of the year was "The Insider." Russell Crowe's performance is of a diferent, higher order of magnitude than Spacey's. Pacino is so into his role and so believable that there's a stillness. Mostly, the picture does the most dificult of things, it makes as intense the strife and conflict and tension as it must have been to live through it if you were these people. The direction and visuals are brilliant and made me feel I was in a dream, as if I was the character I was watching. The time raced by. The most important quality of this masterpiece is that it stays in your memory. I found myself thinking about for days afterward. This may be because the writers do not underestimate their audience. They're not condescending. It felt like I was intensely living another's life. It's probably easier to make a drama out of physical action. To make a thriller as exciting as this out of real situations must be really hard.
Rating:
Summary: A must see!
Review: This is a must see movie. Great story. Al Pacino and Russell Crowe are superb. Even though you're an action-movie fan, you'll enjoy it. If you're a drama-movie fan, you'll definitely love it. I highly recommend this film to everyone!
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: "The Insider" is an excellent movie with superb acting and brilliant direction. The film does not have a single bad actor, and the performances are completely believable. You will not be sorry you watched this film (or bought it), but be warned: at nearly three hours in length it may be hard for some people to pay attention to the movie for that long. In order to fully appreciate and understand this wonderful film, you will need to watch it in its entirety.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Good, But Slightly Flawed, Motion Picture
Review: "The Insider" marks somewhat of a departure for Michael Mann, whose usual bill of fare is tightly wound, psychological crime dramas such as "Thief" and "Heat" on the big screen and shows such as "Miami Vice", "Crime Story", and the shamefully overlooked "Private Eye" on television. The movie portrays the trials and tribulations of Jeffrey Wiegand, a fired tobacco company researcher who violates a confidentiality agreement with his employer at the behest of a "60 Minutes" producer out for a story. Be warned: many of the elements of Mann's previous motion pictures are not present here. The pacing is much slower than any of his previous works, almost painfully so at times (which makes the movie almost three hours in length). Nevertheless it works well, given the plot of this motion picture. The musical score is not quite as good as those in previous Mann pictures and actually gets rather irritating at times. And the cinematography is painfully average for the most part. Additionally, the screenplay was unnecessarily embellished for dramatic effect. The acting performances are first rate all the way, with Al Pacino turning in a curiously restrained performance as "60 Minutes" producer Lowell Bergman. Russell Crowe is very good in the role of Wiegand, and his transformation from disaffectation to paranoia is dazzling, clearly worthy of the Oscar nomination he received. And Christoper Plummer turns in a very good performance as Mike Wallace. The area in which this motion picture really excels, though, is in its telling of the incredibly shortsighted and cowardly decision of CBS to back down from televising the Wiegand interview in the face of a potential lawsuit from his former employer. Mike Wallace and Don Hewitt both insisted that the portrayal of that event was inaccurate, but the facts (at least as I understand and remember them) strongly support the version portrayed in the film. The amazon.com reviewer's use of the word "revisionist" is a little too strong here. Overall, "The Insider" is an entertaining and well-done motion picture that suffers from some unnecessary artistic liberties and rather languid pacing but excels in its ability to tell the tale of a man who laid it all on the line against corporate America only to be left twisting in the wind by a gutless television news organization. CBS deserves to have its eye blackened over the incidents portrayed here. That eye was apparently already blind to its public responsibilities.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping reality based drama
Review: This is a dramatic triumph; a gripping story of the battle between truth and corruption in the sacred halls of mass media news. Based on the true story of Jeffrey Wigand, the research scientist from Brown and Williamson Tobacco who blows the whistle on the industry's attempts to chemically enhance the addictive effects of nicotine, this story grabs you like an anaconda and slowly squeezes you until you are out of breath. The plot follows Lowell Bergman, a producer for 60 Minutes, as he first stumbles across Wigand (Russell Crowe), convinces him to do an interview and then battles to get the interview aired after Brown and Williamson threatens CBS with a lawsuit. This is reality based drama at its finest. For once, we have a real story that is not rendered dubious by over-dramatization. Michael Mann directs his third consecutive triumph. He only does one project every three or four years, but what he lacks in frequency he more than delivers in quality. I liked all aspects of his direction, but I was particularly impressed with his use of the camera. Mann has all the various camera techniques honed to perfection, but what is most impressive is his appropriateness in using technique in a scene to maximize effect. If he gives us an extreme close-up or a foreground blur, it is exactly what is needed for maximum impact in the scene. He uses technique to enhance the scene rather than using the scene as an excuse to show off technique, a disease that seems to have become epidemic, especially among hip young directors. Mann brings us taut drama with a relevant message. He provides well defined characters that hook the audience emotionally. His pace is always appropriate with moments of frenetic action augmented by dramatic buildup and suspense. The acting in this film was uniformly excellent. Pacino is at his finest in this role. It is clear that he had a real passion for the part unlike his stilted and phony performance in `The Devil's Advocate'. As in `Heat', I believe that Mann has again brought forth Pacino's maximum dynamism and squeezed out of him every bit of his brilliance. Russell Crowe elevated his game to a new level with this film. Though I found his performance a bit uneven, he brought great power to the role (perhaps a bit too much), and transcended his previous best performance in `LA Confidential' by a wide margin. This was a complex and difficult character, reserved and intellectual yet highly emotional and explosive. This is a combination that doesn't usually come in the same package. Crowe nailed the reserved intellectual part, but was overwrought in the angry scenes, coming across more like an action hero than the incensed nerd he was supposed to be playing. However, this is a picayune criticism of what was on the whole a fabulous performance. This is one of the better dramas I have seen in a while. I rated it a 9/10. It is well written, well acted and well directed. What more can you ask?
Rating:
Summary: Gripping, great non-fiction story, * * * *
Review: One of the most interesting interesting movies ever about the "whistleblower" who really set things off track for the tobacco business. Its all about what happens in his life and the decisions he makes and what he does. And the lawyers that support him. It will keep you sitting on the edge of your seat the whole time. At times you will be mad at the guy and at others you will feel really sad for him. Very realistic and depressing at times. Great movie, one of the years best easily. BUY IT!
Rating:
Summary: Very moving, even if it contains jarring elements.
Review: One critic said of American Beauty in relation to the Oscar nominations: "This is the one nominated film that gels on its own (flawed) terms". This comment actually applies more to The Insider. Director Michael Mann deserves much of the credit for this film's artistic merit and crackling-sharp narrative drive and characterizations, but it's also on this film that some of Mann's strengths become weaknesses: The look of the film is a little too slick, shot in the same style as Heat (no surprise, with cinematographer Dante Spinotti helming both films). Some of the editing is baffling, with an unusual number of continuity breaks, and the predominance of the handheld camera isn't my cup of tea. There's also a bit of overuse of rack-focus shots, resulting in them losing their power over a two-and-a-half-hour film. And I still can't understand why Mann persists in using Diane Venora; even in a fairly straightforward long-suffering-woman role here she rings false, always trying to burst into tears in every scene and trying to upstage everyone else, but only succeeding in making herself look ridiculous, and damaging the character's credibility. But as an organic whole, The Insider still succeeds grandly. Mann deserves a standing ovation for the performances he ellicits from his two leads, Al Pacino and Russell Crowe. Crowe, as Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, is obviously a low-key marvel, letting his anger boil beneath the surface, and throwing himself headlong into the desolation of the role. It is Pacino who surprises, though, erasing all memories of his hammy '90s performances with an intense, heartfelt portrayal of 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman. The final 20 minutes belong to Pacino (with small help from an excellent Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace) and he shines brighter than he has since the Godfather films. Just for this white-knuckle sequence alone (Bergman's last, desperate struggle to air the story) the film is worth it -- action filmmaking without violence, first-rate tension and drama. Mann realizes that dramatic power hinges on raising the stakes as high as possible, and his intensification of plot points lends the story immense power. And then there's the thematic weight. This film succeeds in realizing its sociological ambition, provoking thought as to the power of the media, the fragile contract between the journalist and the contact, and corporate hierarchies. While American Beauty was the better film, The Insider achieves a supreme degree of political significance and grandiosity of scope. For that, I bow to Michael Mann in reverence.
Rating:
Summary: Very successful
Review: It was just pure coincidence that I re-watched LA Confidential two days before I watched The Insider. Maybe that was the reason why I was too focused on Russell Crowe's performance. It was amazing! The film was a parade of outstanding performances including, Christopher Plummer. Mainly I enjoyed every minute, catching up the details of the performances of the actors, with the beauty of the soundtrack and the strength of the script. I even liked the slow motion effects. This is one of the best films I've seen in the past year. I still smoke though...
Rating:
Summary: Dramatic Dynamite!
Review: 'Expert Craftsmanship' is the only way to describe this movie. Sublime performances by Al Pacino and Christopher Plummer. But Russell Crowe does more than prove he is a good actor and creates an astonishing characterization of Jeffrey Wigand, he really gets under this guy's skin and ultimately 'becomes' Wigand. Great use of sound and editing, the hand-held cinematography created an extremely realistic and intense atmosphere, also great background music. There are some truly awe-inspiring scenes, one of these such scenes is when Wigand is sitting alone in his hotel room and Lowell Bergman (Pacino) is on a beach trying to get him on the phone, and then we see the walls of the hotel room remind Wigand of what he loved most and lost. Attention to detail and expert direction by Michael Mann. One of the best films of 1999. Only flaw is that Al Pacino's character was over-idealized, but maybe it was the only way to make us believe that he didn't manipulate Wigand into doing it. A Must-See. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film a 9!
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