Very powerful

Rating: 9/10 (27 June 2000)

Lest one thinks that a movie made about a tobacco whistleblower who loses the chance to tell his story to the world would be dull, think again. This film is hard core drama. A gripping story ripped right off the evening news. Al Pacino plays Lowel Bergman, a producer for "60 minutes" who accidentally finds a recently fired VP of a big tobacco company holding valuable information that could cost the cigarette companies billions in law suits. But just as he tries desparately to get Jeffrey Wigand's story told (excellently played by Russell Crowe), CBS backs out of the story leaving Bergman holding the bag and angry at the CBS brass for making him the fool and a liar. This film has some of the best acting I've seen in years, especially in Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace. Plummer doesn't imitate Wallace as much as portray the intensity and drive that he is well known for. The Insider pulls no punches in attacking the cigarette industry (an easy target), but also attacks the hypocrisy of the news media wanting to be free to tell "their" side of the story at the same time wanting protection against any ramifications that come of it. This should have done better than it did in the theaters but comes across well on DVD. Don't miss it.