A superior thinking-person's drama

Rating: 9/10 (21 May 2000)

A previous review on this site made a succinct, apt comment about this film: "This movie is for people who like to think...." I cannot sum up my impressions of this film better than that. "The Insider" treats the audience as if it is intelligent, never force-feeding us data. Those of you who prefer to turn off your brain when watching movies, do yourself a favor - rent this movie and realize what you have been missing all this time.
Russell Crowe (excellent as Bud White in "L.A. Confidential") plays Jeffrey Wigand, a tobacco executive ousted from his job because he won't play ball. Without saying too much, he has an insider's story to tell - about how the tobacco companies manipulate nicotine to make it more addictive and how he knows the "Seven Dwarves" (Wigand's term for the executives of the main seven tobacco companies) lied in their testimony to Congress.
Al Pacino's character, Lowell Bergman, is a producer for 60 Minutes who wants his show to be the public conduit for Wigand's information. The film chronicles how difficult it is to publicize this damaging information not just because of retaliation by the the tobacco companies but by CBS's unwillingness to stick it's neck out on a vital public health issue.
Crowe is marvelous - he effectively conveys the emotions of a tormented man, yet he never becomes a characture. Wigand is intelligent and wants to protect his family, and that never changes despite the odds. Al Pacino is excellent as usual - he convincingly portrays Bergman's dogmatic pursuit of truth and his high standard of never leaving a source hanging out to dry. The suspension of disbelief took over quickly for me. Early on, I stopped looking at Pacino and Crowe as Pacino and Crowe - they were Bergman and Wigand to me.
This film affected me much in the same way "Quiz Show" did. Both films are in ways about "the end of innocence" by selling out principles to the almighty dollar. One convicting scene involves Bergman battling CBS legal department over the story. The gist of the lawyer's position is simply this: the more truth you tell, the more liable CBS is. If that's not twisted, I don't know what is.
This movie should get you thinking about a variety of issues: what is a corporation's responsibility to the public well-being? Does corporate ownership of the media compromise what is reported? Is it worth all the personal sacrifices to make certain information public? If you're not thinking about larger issues after watching this film, you simply weren't paying attention.
My rating: 9 out of a possible 10