Fascinating Drama

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2010)

A former employee of a tobacco company wants to blow the whistle on the illegal practices of Big Tobacco but is faced with legal issues as well as threats to his family. This is a fascinating recreation of the events leading up to the broadcast of a "60 Minutes" interview with whistle blower Jeffrey Wigand. There are excellent performances from Crowe as Wigand, Pacino as a "60 Minutes" producer, and Plummer as Mike Wallace. Despite the long running time, the tension builds continually and the film never drags, thanks to the expert screenplay. The film succeeds in spite of Mann, the hack director who tries to always draw attention to himself with his distracting camera work.