Crowe's finest performance to date

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2003)

This is a fine film and in my opinion it is Russell Crowe's finest performance to date. Crowe is Jeffrey Wigand a top scientist working for a tobacco company. The senior bosses are not pleased with Wigand and drive him out of the company and then gag him by forcing him to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Bergman is a producer at 60 minutes who contacts Wigand and realises he has a story to tell. This is an emotional roller coaster for Wigand who is an ordinary person under extraordinary pressure. Having got Wigand to tell his story Bergman must then fight the corporates to get the story aired. A fine movie and it's electric when Crowe is on screen. It can't be that often that Pacino is outperformed, but he is here and it's not that his performance isn't good, it is Crowe's that's excellent. Gripping entertainment.