Rating: 
Summary: 5 Stars for the Movie, 3 Stars for the Quality of the DVD
Review: The Insider has little action, little violence and little romance. And it is one of the five best movies I have seen in the past five years. It is another in a long line of great performances by Al Pacino, who (in my book) is the finest living American actor. It also is the breakout performance of Russell Crowe, who unfortunately had to compete against Kevin Spacey's American Beauty performance, or he would have won the Oscar for his role as Jeffrey Wigand.These two actors have great chemistry in this movie about 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman's (Pacino) attempt to get Wigand to come on to his show and expose his secrets about the tobacco industry. The many fits of anger the two men rage are convincing (Pacino is at his best when he is extremely angry - witness the closing scene of Scent of a Woman). Crowe's portrayal of Wigand's many insecurities is masterful. These two men are on their game in this great movie and I can never turn it off when it shows up on cable (although I have the movie in VHS and DVD). About that DVD. A disappointment because it is misleading. I thought that the DVD contained a "making of" documentary and audio commentary of Crowe and Pacino. Since I know the dialog of the movie, I thought the audio comments of these two great actors would be a nice little add on not found on the VHS version. So I picked it up. BEWARE - in reality, the documentary is all of about 15 minutes long (if that) and the "audio commentary" of Pacino and Crowe is really just snippets (probably totalling all of 2 minutes) of interviews done with them that is embedded in the documentary. No actors audio track after all. I think enough DVDs have been produced where somebody who sees "audio commentary" assumes a separate track. WRONG!! A great movie, a subpar DVD. See it, especially if you love 60 Minutes.
Rating: 
Summary: Beware to whistle blowers!
Review: This story is a cautionary tale to those who go up against big, powerful corporations. Jeffrey Wigand went up against the tobacco companies and lost just about everything but his integrity. I was absolutly riveted by the performances and the story. This the first movie I'd seen Russell Crowe in and it's not hard to see why he was nominated for an Oscar for this role. His portrayal of a complex person in a tight spot was great. This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat and pondering the dilemmas the characters face for long after.
Rating: 
Summary: The Outsider..and leave it there.
Review: Boring, slow, and boring. Even watching the actual 60 Minutes pieces on this story was more entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Almost perfect film.
Review: There were a few very good films in 1999. The Insider was sure one of them. It is so well crafted, every aspect of it. Russell Crowe performance is astonishing, you can actually feel the torture that this man went through -I loved Kevin Spacey in American Beauty, but I think Crowe is fantastic here, well, they gave him the Oscar for Gladiator, to compensate. The documentary-styled photography makes the movie even more gripping.
I loved Lisa Gerard's music, by the way, solemn and dramatic, and finally redemptive, when Crowe's character's battle is finally over.
Rating:
Summary: 1999's best film, excellent script, acting, and thrills
Review: I first saw this film early September this year. I was blown away. Tied with "Batman", this is, without any doubts at all, the most well-made thriller I've ever seen.
The thing I liked most about this film was the script. Very carefully made, it must have been revisied 5 times before filming began. It could possibly be the best script made in the 90s. They didn't make the dialouge flaw in anyway, you should hear the horrible dialouge they used in the (much) more worst written films, take "Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie", with the most worst quote known to man: "Those are just ordinary cars! No, those are extrodinary cars!" In "The Insider", they give you more detailed sentinces. They won't have someone point to something and say "This tobacco isn't safe! Don't tell the public it either!" "No, it is safe!", they'd say, "Is Wingad telling the truth? Yes. Is tobacco now dangerous? Yes. Are we gonna air it? Of course not!"
The acting is brilliant. OK, I'm biased over Al Pachino and Russell Crowe as great actors, but this is telling the truth. It is the second biggest sucessful prioity to this flick.
The camera gets a little shaky at times, but that doesn't ruin the film at all, and I usually am driven insane by hand-held cameras.
It's a thriller, yes, also a drama, but more a thriller. The only reason why it's a drama, pretty much, is because it is based on a true story. Otherwise, it is an edge-of-your-seat thriller.
The only reason it got an R rating is because of strong language, and that is kind of common with R rated films. Though Amazon isn't selling it to people under 18, I found it pretty apporpriate for someone 14 or 15 years old, and maybe even people younger than that, after all, kids are familar with strong language in real life and in PG and PG-13 films, so if you're under, say 14, you can watch it with parental guidance.
Rating: *****/*****
Rating:
Summary: One of few truth in making
Review: Very few movies show the truth. Al Pacino and Russell Crowe give a powerful performance. This is a masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better
Review: This movie, despite the awesome performance by Al Pacino, could have been better. I wasn't aware until nearly the end that it was based on a true story. It had it's good moments - it's good dialogue - but in the end the parts didn't all come together...
Rating:
Summary: Yes, good movies are still being made!!!!!
Review: With today's current crop of movies, it is easy to think that quality films that make you think might have gone the way of the dodo. However, The Insider is a BIG exception to the rule. Don't let the long running time or the fact that it may seem like any other A & E documentary discourage you. This movie is potboiler that keeps you glued to the screen and howling at every the injustice of it all. One of the greatest compliments for this movie would have to be the fact that I watched it with five of my friends who could care less about current events or journalistic integrity, yet all of them sat through every single minute of it absolutely riveted to the screen. It is kind of discouraging seeing the self-censorship and the "chilling effect" on the media that's taken place since the events of the film. However, the film ends on a high note and is well worth watching if you enjoy great cinema!
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the price of a DVD
Review: I thought this was ok for a rental but not for something i would spend 25.00 on. I was disapointed in all the whispering. I know it is a movie about secrets but you could barely understand them at times. Reminds me of Murder at 1600.
Rating:
Summary: Russell Crowe steals this show!
Review: Can you imagine a scientist standing up against the tobacco industry? Can you imagine this scientist recorded a segment on 60 minutes and that 60 minutes refused to air the program because of political pressure? This really happened. Russell Crowe is fascinating in this study of a man caught between morality and saving him self and his family from psychological torture. Al Pacino plays the producer who ultimately gets the scientists testimony heard after going to the New York Times with the story. This is a story that every one can relate to. It is gripping. Crowe should have won an academy award for his performance.
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