A great Great Movie

Rating: 9/10 (6 October 2003)

After watching all of Michael Mann's movies i can say that he has never made a bad film. Although i have to dissagree with the bulk of his fans and say that this film is his best NOT Heat (it was still an awesome movie).
I think my opinion of this film is slightly bias as i am a Huge fan of Al Pacino but even if they got an equally great actor for the same roll, it wouldn't cause this masterpiece to falter in any way.
On the outset this does not look like an amazingly gripping film. The true story of a tabaco executive turned whistle blower doesn't make it sound as if it'll be ripe with action or suspence (which the average popcorn junkie craves). That said it's not action you go to see in a Michael Mann film. Even with Heat he brilliantly put characterisation first before the relentlessly violent action set pieces and he keeps the theme going here.
There is no action to speak of in this film, just the agonising tension that builds from the moment Wigand (Russel Crowe on top form) is fired from his job and it doesn't let up.
Pacino is his usual shouty self but that is what makes him so great. His role as 60 minutes producer Lowel Burhman is brilliantly played out as a man who can't take no for an answer. Watch his noticable dispair as he realises that they will NOT broadcast the show.
There is nothing bad about this movie. Mann's direction is his best since the brilliant and gripping Manhunter. His use of slow motion is enough to make the Wachowski brothers quiver in their boots. Many of my friends complained about the length (over 2 1/2 hours) but these are the pop corn junkies i spoke of before. I was fortunate enough to catch this film at the cinema where the full glory of the cinematography was amazingly apparent.
All in all this is a true masterpiece. Interlectual (which is rare in a film today), gripping, and truely truely fantastic in every sense of the word. This is by far Mann's best work to date and if he churns more gems out like this i will be a fan for many years to come.
5/5