Rating: 
Summary: An incredible movie- worthy of much praise!
Review: "The Insider", a theatrical delight, is a well cast, brilliantly acted, and ingeniously directed movie. I cannot say enough about this film!Russell Crowe is pheonominal as the socially-conscious scientist,Dr. Jeffrey Weigand. Mr. Crowe, one of my favorite actors since first seeing him in "L.A. Confidential", brings multiple dimensions to his character. One the one hand you applaud Dr. Weigand for being so courageous in spite of the threats he receives from "big tobacco". On the other hand, you sense his pain, and the fear he has for his family. It is all in the eyes- Russell Crowe emotes like few actors can. WE WILL BE PULLING FOR HIM ON OSCAR NIGHT! While Russell Crowe is truly the star in this film, one certainly cannot overlook the outstanding performance turned in by Al Pacino. Mr. Pacino lives up to this movie's expectations, and provides wonderful depth in his character. The pure sarcasm in several of his lines leaves you laughing inside, while silently saying to yourself, "you know, this guy has a point!" Watching Al Pacino is a delight- and in the end, you hope he not only wins the right to produce TV as he sees fit, you are hoping that his character gets a raise! Al Pacino- you are not worthy of a "supporting actor" nomination, you are in a class all your own! Lastly, we cannot forget the performance of a veteran actor, Christopher Plummer. Mr. Plummer shows sides of Mike Wallace that you imagined were there, but have never been able to see. Mr. Plummer gives the movie perspective- and plays the depressive Mike Wallace with stunning accuracy. In the end, you forget that Mr. Plummer is an actor- you begin to think that the real Mike Wallace is the true actor! I will be looking for more good things to come from Mr. Plummer- he has made me a fan! This movie is as put together as it can get. The cinematography, direction, etc. give this film power. There are no lulls- you remain firmly entrenched in the plot throughout this movie. The sets, the tone, the music, it all blends together like a great cup of coffee- warm and enjoyable. Michael Mann reels you in, and does not let go. He takes you on a wild ride- your heart races, your eyes tear, your palms sweat, and you squirm in your seat. He does his job, and he does it well- he MOVES you. This story of one former tobacco scientist taking on big tobacco in an effort to bring awareness of health hazzards to the general public via television, will go down as a modern-day classic. The "behind-the-scenes" look at TV production, and more specifically, "60 Minutes", gives the general viewer an idea of not only how much time is spent producing a 15-minute segment for network TV, but shows the consequences on a man's life for being brave enough to care. I applaud Jeffrey Weigand, a hero to America. I also applaud the makers of "The Insider" , for having the courage, stamina, and awe-inspiring vision to bring this film to life.
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.
Rating: 
Summary: TOBACCO AVENUE
Review: One of those films that I always meant to watch and only now, years after the fact, I get around to doing so, and I am a little disappointed. Docudrama about top tobacco corporate vice president who aligns with TV's "60 Minutes" to expose tobacco company standards is too narrow-minded in scope to encompass all the havoc the tobacco empire exposes on the world, relying on the sympathetic plight and near ruin of the family man executive whose behavior borders on paranoia and insecurity. Al Pacino as a "60 Minutes" producer and Russell Crowe as the reluctant crusader executive both seem overdrawn as characters, Pacino in his familiar nervous edgy urban guy persona and Crowe as the weakling confused executive both grow tiresome after a while. Still, the movie moves along briskly and a surreal sequence where a hotel wall becomes an imagined memory invokes the sometimes hopelessness of tobacco addiction. But why does the film feel the need to mercilessly pick on "60 Minutes"'s Mike Wallace? I seem to be missing the inside word here.
Rating:
Summary: Whistle-blowing, smear-campaigns and the media - A TRIUMPH.
Review: Let me preface this review by saying that "The Insider" is the only DVD in my collection that I purchased WITHOUT having seen the film beforehand. The reasons? Michael Mann, Al Pacino and Russell Crowe. With names like these credited to a motion picture, it's almost a can't-miss situation. I wasn't disappointed. Many people seem put off by the film's overlength. I say if the movie has you in it's grasp dramatically then it's more for your money... Russell Crowe is absolutely rivetting as the flawed protagonist. He expresses more with his facial expressions and subtle eye movements than most actors can by screaming dialogue and flailing their arms about. There is a priceless scene towards the end where a scruffy, pathetic Wigand comes undone in a hotel room - ethereal, haunting and compelling. The always-dependable Al Pacino complements Crowe's implosive performance with his own passionate portrayal of 60-minutes producer Lowell Bergman. Pacino's Bergman struggles hard against forces aligned against journalistic integrity: corporate tobacco's smear campaign against Wigand, the pressures posed by CBS not to air the news segment, not to mention the lack of support by his comrades. Both Bergman and Wigand deal with the pressures differently within their own element and when they clash it is drama of the highest caliber. Outstanding supporting performances by Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace and Philip Baker Hall as Don Hewitt add icing to the cake. Michael Mann builds an air of suspense and paranoia in ways that few directors can. Scenes such as those of Wigand at a golf-driving range and Wigand being woken by his daughter in the middle of the night provoke tension. As a viewer, I could relate to Wigand's claustrophobia and his fear for his family. Mann accomplishes this with flair and style to spare with arty close-ups and slow motion, hand-held camera shots and an absolutely breathtaking score by Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke (- Any wonder that their music appears on Crowe's next film, "Gladiator"?) I loved this movie. Please see it with an open mind, and not just the "Gee, smoking is bad for you... DUH." attitude. You won't be sorry.
Rating: 
Summary: Ugly American's
Review: The Insider is about the American tobacco industry and its efforts to suppress a segment prepared for CBS television network's "60 Minutes" in 1995. The "60 Minutes" story, produced by Lowell Bergman and presented by veteran newsman Mike Wallace, alleged that tobacco companies had long known of the disease-causing effects of smoking, were well aware that nicotine was an addictive drug and indeed deliberately enhanced the effect of nicotine through the use of chemical additives. In Mann's film, Bergman (Al Pacino) first encounters Wigand (Russell Crowe), recently fired by Brown & Williamson, while looking for a consultant on a story concerning the fire hazards of smoking. Bergman senses that Wigand has a significant story to tell. But the latter has signed a confidentiality agreement with his former employer; if he tells "60 Minutes" what he knows, he'll lose his severance package, including medical coverage, a major issue in the US. He comes under immense pressure to remain silent; his family receives death threats; his marriage eventually breaks up; Brown & Williamson launches a smear campaign. Crowe is especially fine. Pacino proves that his over-acting and histrionics in too many films have been largely a product of having weak material to work with. The most remarkable feature of the film is the hostility it expresses, and encourages in a spectator, for the profit system. The depth and purity of this hostility is breathtaking. It is the depth and purity of this hostility that provides the film with its aesthetic. This, I think, is what one responds to more than anything else. The filmmakers present the heads of the tobacco companies, the "Seven Dwarves" as thoroughly despicable, irredeemable characters. Wigand's former employer is prepared to go to any lengths to protect its interests. The ugly face of Brown & Williamson is the ugly face of big business in America. Mann is only confirming what everyone already knows in his or her heart. It's not discussed in polite company, no one in the corporate-controlled media will mention it, but everyone knows it. The Insider could only come into being, could only possess its power, because it tapped into an accumulated build-up of disgust and anger, a general feeling that "enough is enough." Many people are sick and tired of a society in which everything is organized in the interest of the rich and powerful. That's what the film's about, whether anyone likes it or not.
Rating:
Summary: Another Michael Mann gem!
Review: The Insider is not a movie that will get most people's blood pumping. However, for me, this movie did just that. Al Pacino's performance is, as usual, amazing. He never seems to disappoint when he is in front of the camera. Russel Crowe turns in one of the best performances of his career. I thought that his acting job in this movie far exceeded his performance in Gladiator. The movie was a little slow in some places, but the overall tempo was very good. Mann's direction was excellent in adding different elements just at the right time to keep the story going. Although not the typical action movie that most fans like, this drama is an excellent movie for those who are looking for an interesting movie or for great acting.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better.
Review: 'The Insider' could have been a much better movie than it actually turned out to be. One of the main problems with the film is we don't know anything about the Russel Crow's character or his family. They were poorly developed and that really hurts the movie. We don't know why Jeff has the emotional problems he has or why his wife seems like she is going to vomit in every other scene.
What is also really annoying is how the 'The Insider' was filmed.
Do we really need to see extreme close-ups of the characters' faces from five different angles? What purpose does this type of directing serve? Al Pacino did a fine job as always, but even he couldn't save this mess.
Rating:
Summary: Steve Trayers is an idiot.
Review: This was an excellent film. That Trayers thinks his professional experience gives him license to spotlight his own personal political views is laughable. He wrote a book about sports. Impressive.
The Insider is a film not about "liberals", but about people who chose to stand up to coporate culture and won.
If Trayers had read the original Vanity Fair story of J. Wigand, et al, he would see that the movie was historically accurate to an impressive degree. All roles were skillfully acted. What does Trayers want? An ad for his book to be inserted into the movie?
Where does Trayers get off discussing the altruism (or lack thereof) belonging to people of a left-leaning persuasion? Generally, leftists tend to be elitist clowns who feel that they can save the world. Nobody needs liberals except liberals. But this is a movie review. Who cares?
Watch "The Insider." Buy it. It is as inspiring and powerful as any other movie I can think of, and you also get to see a good, strong Pacino rant.
Five stars.
Rating:
Summary: "I'm an Insider Too"
Review: We all know that it's sometimes worth it to take a second look at a film you may have been dismissive of before. To say, I didn't "get" THE INSIDER the first time I saw it would be something of an understatement. I didn't see it as all that revelatory--"'Big tobacco' corrupt?" "Big media craven?" "Mike Wallace has an ego and a temper on the scale of Mt. St. Helens?" Quelle surprise! There was nothing particularly new about all that. In fact, the only big news was that Russell Crowe was going the DeNiro route and altering his physical appearance for the sake of his art. (OK, OK, not as extreme but he did put on a few pounds and donned a less than flattering grey toupe.) Maybe it was something I ate that first time, though, 'cause the second time around, I have to admit, it was pretty riveting. This time out, I found the moral dilemmas facing Crowe's whistleblower and Pacino's muckraker TV producer pretty darn fascinating--despite the fact that I knew how it was all going to turn out. Oh yeah, and I finally got the fact that the title is supposed to be a little ambiguous and that,yes, Pacino's Lowell Bergman character is an "insider" too. Sometimes I'm a little slow, but eventually, if I'm lucky, I catch on. THE INSIDER is a quietly powerful and effective film. Apparently, it didn't manage to convince Russell Crowe to quit smoking, but--as a morality tale and as sheer drama--it's still pretty darn effective.
Rating:
Summary: The Insider (1999)
Review: Director: Michael Mann
Cast: Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Diane Venora, Philip Baker Hall, Lindsay Crouse, Debi Mazar.
Running Time: 158 minutes.
Rated R for language and some violence. Loosely based on a similar real-life tobacco industry media predicament, "The Insider" is an honest, taut portrayal of how one man's willingness to comply with the media and speak his mind can change more things than he could ever imagine. Al Pacino gives his best performance outside of "The Godfather II" and "Scarface", depicting the veteran "60 Minutes" television show producer Lowell Bergman, who is on a hot trail of a story involving the corrupt tobacco industries. Russell Crowe, fresh off fine performances in "L.A. Confidential" and "Courage Under Fire", plays an insider source for Bergman after he loses his job as a prominent tobacco company excecutive. When these two men join forces in a battle against the cigarette production and distribution company, Jeffery Wigand (Crowe) has his world turned outside down with death threats and media coverage. Believing that Bergman has set up him to fall, he later realizes that both not only want to save their reputations, but they are striving for the same goal--to communicate the truth. Pacino is in rare, spectacular form, while Crowe is more than adequate as the counterpart. Supporting the lead stars is Plummer as the incomporable Mike Wallace, portraying the strong television icon to near perfection. Although over two-and-a-half hours, "The Insider" moves at a quick pace and keeps the audience guessing both Wigand and Bergman's next moves. Michael Mann shoots and cuts a brilliant, beautiful piece of visual artistry, solidifying himself as one of the top directors heading into the next century. A masterpiece of intellect and honor, setting itself a part from many other media-dramas of its kind. Exhilerating and captivating.
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