The best film of 1999

Rating: Null/10 (8 July 2000)

Films inspired by real life events face an awkward task in balancing cinematic liberty with fact, and not reinventing history.
While dramatic license is acknowledged, THE INSIDER is that rarest of films - pure cinema that actually matters.
Michael Mann has delivered a timely, and essential message about corporate politics. It's a tragedy the film failed at the box office.
Pacino is excellent as ever, and Plummer lends masterful support. But Russell Crowe - like Pacino against Brando in 1972 - shows he is every bit as good as the master as the slow-burning powderkeg Jeffrey Wigand. Crowe will be THE actor to watch in the coming years.
Tight and exciting, the message is never lost - corporate government is irresponsible, and democracy does not exist without a free media. But the power shift continues in the publics ignorance. The crime here is that public completely missed this, the best film of the year.