Beautiful Portrait Of The Human Condition

Rating: 10/10 (20 February 2005)

Michael Mann has made one of my favorite modern movies: The Insider is everything I expect to find in a movie. Time has not treated it well, it was completely overlooked at the Oscars and has been sadly forgotten in recent years in detriment of more catchy 1999 movies like American Beauty, The Sixth Sense, and Being John Malkovich. I don't understand why: The Insider is a masterpiece with great production values and quality; its screenplay is engaging, it depicts the human condition with intelligence, maturity and tenderness; one can feel Jeffrey Wigand's frustrations and anger, cry over his personal problems, rejoice in his battle for the truth against tobacco companies; he's one of the most complex and complete characters because of the way Mann balances his feelings with his many flaws; he's not perfect, but for his sacrifices and losses throughout the movie, I believe he's one of the best heroes in recent American Cinema, of the same stuff Atticus Finch and Will Kane are made of.
Mann's great achievement is picking up a slice of life and turning it engaging: Jeffrey Wigand, former CEO for tobacco company fights for the public's right to know the truth about this industry. It seems rather dull, but Mann focuses on the everyday consequences of his actions, marital arguments, divorce, restraining orders, possibly jail. The Insider really shows ordinary people caught up and left alone in cruel, extraordinary situations and that makes great drama to watch! I find fascinating how far the tobacco companies will go to stop Jeffrey from saying what he knows, the threats to his family, the psychological blackmail; CBS's fear of airing his interview is their last gambit and it was fascinating to watch the backstage functioning of a big network, the discussions between the top people that the common man is unaware of, their daily fear of litigations, and the efforts of good journalists like Lowell Bergman to show the truth.
Russell Crowe plays Jeffrey Wigand, a man torn between exposing the truth and keeping his mouth shut to protect his family and their well-being; it's not even physical aggression he fears, more things that are in most people's minds: how will he pay the mortgage on the cars and house, who will put food on their table, how will they pay college? Jeffrey's a high-middle class guy and his greatest fear is how his actions will hurt his family economically. It's something many people can relate with. Crowe is brilliant in this role, to me it's his best one to date; without many words he manages to convey several feelings and emotional states just through body language, facial expressions and small mannerisms and ticks. He never tells directly what's on his mind, but he shows it with great clarity. Jeffrey's major flaw is his lack of social skills to deal with emotional situations; he's always hot-headed and gets angry easily, and his failure to communicate with his wife, Liane, when she's not coping so well with his problems, lead to abandon and divorce. Diane Venora is great at playing Liane, it's easy to find her rather cold and uncaring for the way she abandons Jeffrey, but I think her character was well-written as a wife who tried to stand alongside her husband, only he didn't want her support: Jeffrey had it coming on this one.
Al Pacino is also fantastic as Lowell Bergman, a 60 Minutes journalist who fights against CBS to air his interview with Jeffrey so his efforts and personal tragedies weren't in vain. Pacino steals the last third of the movie in this quest, overshadowing Crowe's performance. I feel he should have gotten a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his strong performance. The movie's climax is beautiful, and one of the most cathartic moments in cinema since Andy Dufresne's escape in The Shawshank Redemption. I love the song 'Sacrifice' playing while the interview is finally being aired as the camera keeps cutting to several characters in the movie as they all watch it on TV. It's a feel-goody moment because everyone wants Jeffrey's efforts to be worthwhile and not just in vain. More importantly, being it based on a true story, it's not just mindless happy ending to please crowds: it's the truth, and it should remind all these people who hate happy endings because they're 'unrealistic' that, yes, there are happy endings in the real world too! The music is beautiful in this movie  I love 'Iguazu' playing when Jeffrey is on his way to a court to testify against the tobacco companies. 'Meltdown' is another beautiful song. Mann is a great filmmaker: his use of camera angles is always refreshing and his cinematography is just visually engaging. The Insider, to me, deserved to have swept several Oscars: Best Picture, Director and Actor. I'm not sure about Best Adapted Screenplay, The Talented Mr. Ripley had a best one in my opinion. As things stand, both movies were ignored in 1999 by the Academy. It's something I regret but changes nothing to me: The Insider will always remain as the best movie of 1999 to me.