The most engrossing, clever film of 1999

Rating: 10/10 (9 May 2001)

The Insider is based on the true story of two men who fight to get public information out to the public. Lowell Bergman (Pacino) is a producer of 60 Minutes. Jeff Wigand (Crowe) is an ex-executive at Brown and Williamson (America's 3rd largest tobacco company). When Bergman approaches Wigand to be a consultant on a fire safety study on cigarrettes Brown and Williamson blackmail him into furthering his confidentiality agreement. Bergman can tell that Wigand has something to say but can't. So he sets up Wigand to testify in a court of public opinion on behalf of the state of Mississipi. He does, and he also does a CBS interview on 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace (Plummer). The information is simple. That the tobacco industry has been lying to the people about nicotine. That it is not only addictive but they also manipulate it to increase its addictiveness. But big tobacco are trying to do all they can to shut Wigand up. They use restraining orders, they treating CBS with a lawsuit and they start a smear campaign against Wigand. All these things separate Wigand from his family and Bergman from the rest of CBS. This was a fantastic movie. It deserved all 7 of the Oscars it was nominated for. Michael Mann's direction is impeccable as he shows what the people are thinking and the emotions they are feeling. The film is long but very engrossing. The film switches half-way through from Wigand giving the information to Bergman fighting to air the information. Al Pacino shows that he is one of the best actors in Hollywood with an Oscar worthy performance. But the star of the show was Russell Crowe as Jeff Wigand. His performance is perfect as a man torn between what is right and what is best for his family and he stops short of showing Wigand to be a persecuted hero, but as a man whose whole life is threatened by what he knows. Out of 10 i will give this film 9.5