Rating: 
Summary: Daring character study plus more.
Review: Tackling the subject of latter day history takes a great deal of precision. The first thing a film maker, taking on something such as the multi-billion dollar suit levied against the tobacco industry by the United States, must do is narrow their focus. This is what Michael Mann's "The Insider" does. Instead of becoming a sprawling film that takes on all the evils of society in the form of a cigarette company, it narrows in on the idea of media and corporate relations.This film does not make its heroes out to be saints. They all have motives, which can be considered selfish. This is the most compelling aspect of the film. Jeffrey Wigand is a practical white-collar American who is not often driven by emotion but rather by cool headed American values such as providing for his family. When he is pushed by his former employer (tobacco company B&W) he goes to his one instance of emotional redemption (taking the information he knows to the press, in the form of Pacino as a 60 minute producer) and puts everything he has gained in jeopardy. Sometimes long but perfectly stylized, this film owes much of its power to Russel Crowe whose transformation into Wigand (white-haired, overweight and ready to explode) is the stuff serious drama is built on. The supporting characters who work at 60 Minutes and CBS are note worthy as well. While not having as much emotionally invested in the situation, Pacino is effective as a workaholic newsman who takes on some of Crowe's fire. Lastly is something that I normally don't usually give much weight to when it comes to movies. This is an important story to be told because many people don't realize that the facts represented here are true (maybe not entirely accurate) and, more importantly, serve as a model as how far reaching events will go down in the modern world.
Rating: 
Summary: The true best picture of 1999
Review: "American Beauty" was pretty good and deserved itsnomination but the film that should have won Best Picture this yearwas Michael Mann's "The Insider". Al Pacino is as good as ever as a producer on "60 Minutes" and Russell Crowe is magnificant as a whistle blower that was a former tobacco company employee. The story revolves around Pacino fighting to get Crowe's interview aired on "60 Minutes" while Crowe's life is being threatened by his former employers. Pacino really plays the role well and Crowe is equally as good. Crowe turned in a great performance in "L.A. Confidential" and in "The Insider" he proves that he will in time be one of the true great actors. As for Michael Mann, he has really done a fine job with this film. It's a shame it did not win any Oscars for it truly deserved them.
Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Picture
Review: "The Insider" is by far, the best motion picture of1999. It focuses on the lives of Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe),vice president in charge of research for Brown & Williamson Tobacco, and Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), a veteran producer for the much-respected "60 Minutes" CBS news magazine. Recently fired from his cushy 6 figure job, Wigand soon faces the dilemma of whether or not to violate his confidentiality agreement and expose the disturbing truth about cigarettes, or to keep silent and protect his family. Bergman, meanwhile, must try to coax the story out of Wigand, while protecting him and sidestepping legal snaffus which arrise and fighting to get his piece aired. "The Insider" features top-notch performances from its cast, top to bottom, particularly from Crowe, as the brave yet terrified Wigand. Director Michael Mann keeps the story moving and keeps his audience interested throughout- not an easy task for a 3 hour movie. What really enhanced my enjoyment of this movie was the terrific hand-held cinematography by Dante Spinotti. His camera is often perched over Wigand's shoulder, and we as an audience feel as if we are right there with him as he franticly searches for the answers. I suppose a lot of people avoided this movie at the box office due to its length and its subject matter-and its their loss. If you like the movies with explosions and gunfights then rent something else. If you like an engrossing, thought-provoking movie with terrific performances, then "The Insider" is the movie for you.
Rating:
Summary: Stylish And Intelligent As Well As Thrilling.
Review: Michael Mann, one of the finest of American directors, brings to the screen an important story with "The Insider." This is a film I would compare to Oliver Stone's "JFK." Al Pacino and Russell Crowe give incredible performances. The writing, cinematography and the entire structure of the film are exquisite. Mann and his co-writer, Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) expertly take a simple 60 Minutes news story and turn it into a thrilling story. Mann adds a Hitchcockian feel to the atmosphere, a certain tense paranoia. "The Insider" is extremely effective because it's also a great parable on the dangers of telling the truth when a large entity does not want that certain truth to be known. Who cares about dramatic license? It's what the film says that counts. "The Insider" is suprerior to Mann's previous work, "Heat," which is the best cop thriller I have ever seen. This is an important, exquisite work.
Rating:
Summary: A superb film
Review: It is rare for a film to acheive the quality of this one. It is rarer still for a film of this quality to actually mean something. Russell Crowe's performance is nothing short of mesmerizing. He completely sumberges himself in his character giving the impression that he is not acting at all. This is the mark of a great actor. Christopher Plummer is Mike Wallace, to put it bluntly, and Al Pacino's performance is on a par with the best in his career. Mann keeps the movie going with a leisurly but suspensful pace. It never loses it's sense of urgency. We also learn how corporate America has come to dominate this country economically and socially, even to the extent that it can control the news content (having worked in television news, I can confirm the realism of those scenes). This movie deserves whatever awards it gets. It was the best film of 1999 without question, hesitation or doubt.
Rating:
Summary: A Perfectly Acted Drama
Review: It is very concievable that a lot of people would dislike this film. After all, a three hour legal drama starring Al Pacino bellowing his lungs out is probably not most viewers idea of a day at the beach. None the less, I found the Insider to be a very compelling film that is elevated above other movies by its truly great performances. The Insider is actually two very different movies that are expertly woven into one. One plot is about a tobacco employee (Russell Crowe) who decides to violate his contract and reveal top-secret information about his company. He discovers the cigarettes he is helping to produce are deadlier than he suspected and he feels responsible to make this fact public. The second story is an exploration of media ethics. Al Pacino plays a 60 minutes producer who wrangles with television execs about the dilemma of airing Russell Crowe's confessions. Not only is the Insider just a legal drama, but it's also a thriller and an involving exploration of ethics. Russell Crowe, who is nominated for the film (deservedly so) turns in a flawless performance that compliments Al Pacino's usual over the top style. The best performance here however is given by Christopher Plummer who plays Mike Wallace, a host of 60 minutes. His performance is so great that it truly baffles me how it was ignored at the oscars. Occaisonally The Insider does seem long winded and in need of editing. The suspense aspect too often fizzles just as it is getting interesting. Russell Crowe's life is actually threatened by the words "we will kill you" but within a scene or two the viewer will forget that it was ever a part of the movie. Overall The Insider is impressive, if overlong, which is worth seeing ultimately because it is the best acted movie of the year. If you enjoyed Michael Mann's previous film "Heat" then you probably will be able to sit through and enjoy The Insider. If you found that one to be long and tedious then this will not be a film for you.
Rating:
Summary: MASTERFUL WORK
Review: As in his other memorable work, director Michael Mann hits all the right notes with THE INSIDER, a thrilling film filled with terrific performances by Russel Crowe, Al Pacino and Christopher Plummer. I could go on an on about this movie, but all that needs to be said is that is by far the BEST film of 1999, and although it won't win the Oscar, it certainly should have. Riveting, intelligent storytelling complimented by Mann's trademark visual style. Any fan of Mann's work knows what I mean. Tight close-ups, fantastic music score and wonderful cinematography. Don't let the length scare you. It's long and it needs to be. So did HEAT.
Rating:
Summary: Courageous
Review: "The Insider" was one of the finest films of last year and certainly the finest film nominated for best picture. What I think it demonstrates to a greater degree that any film in recent years is what courage really is. In the modern world survival is no longer predicated on physical prowess: the willingness to defend or advance physically to maintain ones community or ones principals. We live in a world of laws, language and economics. Survival is all but assured by abiding by or submitting to the status norms and powers that be. Go along and get along. What this film presents are two modern heroes that display MODERN courage in challenging pernicious power structures. They put everything they have at risk for higher principals. It is an epic in the truest sense. Many have complained that it distorted or combined certain facts and characters, but that is in no way irreconcilable with what a film aspires to as opposed to what journalism should aspire to. Crowe and Pacino are demonstrating modern courage in epic theater form---not the precise details of how these men took on a tobacco company and CBS. Regardless, the facts that Brown & Williamson lied to the public and altered it's deadly product to hook it's consumers, and that 60 Minutes balked at presenting the original story for craven financial reasons, is undisputed. Most people today are cowards. They don't get involved and they won't take a stand for principals more important than their personal security. Most people never get to the grass by the water, as Wigand and Bergman do. Fewer still have the courage to press on. They do. They took on those that had lied and killed with impunity. They risked their security for something greater than themselves. They were modern heroes.
Rating: 
Summary: 'The Insider' - Oh Dear..........
Review: I find it very hard to review this film without the use of bad language, but I'll try. From start to finish this film was terrible - with a cast of uninteresting characters and an even more pathetic plot, I found it astonishing that this film has been nominated for 'Film of the Year'. What I found even more astonishing was that one of my all time heros - Pacino - was willing to star in this tripe. Of course, to be fair, I had nothing but praise for Pacino's performance - which helped to ease my suicidal urges through 157 minutes. The main problem of this film is Michael Mann's repeated failure to deliver - he repeatedly sets up a superb opportunity for a moment of interest or suspense only to let the audience down with an anti-climax. The idea of the plot being centered around a true story of an 'insider' willing to testify on public record should have been a worthy content for the film, but the way the story is told makes it almost too true to life - almost as if watching a bland documentary. Don't get me wrong - I don't believe all films need violence and guns to make excitement, but 'The Insider' was just too long with little or no moments of action for the audience to sit up and take interest. It is bad enough the film being plain boring, but 157 minutes of this is just ridiculous, and it is about time films are reviewed with the truth in mind and therefore pathetic attempts like this will never be nominated for best film of the year. It will be a cold day in hell before I ever watch any more of Mann's work.
Rating:
Summary: A great movie
Review: The Insider is one of the best of 1999, along with American Beauty, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, The Cider House Rules, Dogma, The Hurricane, and The Sixth Sense. Russell Crowe perfectly casted as Dr. Jeffrey Weigand. Russell Crowe could win an oscar, if Denzel Washington (the Hurricane), or Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) don't win. Magnificent, see it.
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