First of all....I loved it.

Rating: Null/10 (13 February 2000)

First of all....I loved it. "The Insider" is the ultimate film to date regarding corporate greed, a corporate lack of concern for the welfare of the general public, and the emotional struggle of those who want to expose it. "The Insider" adds salt to the wound by exposing the failure of the news media, in particular "60 Minutes", to report an important story on the tobacco industry that would both expose corporate greed at the public's expense and save lives in the future. "The Insider" takes a look at a corporate executive, Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) who makes the heart-wrenching personal decision to break his "morally & ethically wrong corporate agreement" regarding the corporate's knowledge of documented health risks that cigarettes pose to the public. Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) is a "60 Minutes" producer who wants the story told. For the next few hours, you watch the behind the scenes power struggle from all perspectives. You see Bergman (Pacino) risking his career by fighting the CBS corporate execs over a basic issue of "right vs wrong". Dr. Wigand (Crowe) also risks and loses everything when he chooses to do the "right" thing and share his story. The film brings forth strong emotions from both Pacino and Crowe. So strong is their acting that you lose sight that these two are just the actors and not the real participants. Earlier I mentioned that this is the "ultimate film to date" on exposing the ills of our society....previous exposures came in such great films as "Class Action" and "Civil Action" and in the story of a real life whistle-blower, John Dean (Watergate). "The Insider" almost makes you wonder what would have happened in this country 25 years ago if the "Washington Post" was afraid of being sued as "60 Minutes" was in this story. Bottom line...while this movie takes 180 minutes to tell a "60 Minutes" story, you will feel like the "ultimate insider" as you witness some very sad moments in recent history.