One of the most intense movies ever made

Rating: 7/10 (5 July 2008)

I'm not big on movies about journalism, but "The Insider" is interesting for its genre. It is more than just a movie for those who want to learn how to be a journalist (which is not my case). It is a very intense movie. The whole movie is full of tension, which is combined with strong suspense, comparable to a thriller (except with no violence). Not the most exciting thing to watch, but definitely a powerful film which happens to be based in a real story.
The big downside of this movie is its long runtime of almost 2 hours and a half, which makes it become a little tiring during the last 20 minutes. If only Michael Mann had give me the script I would have deleted 20 minutes of it and made it a shorter movie. I can't lie to you: this movie requires patience. Once you get used to it, things become more natural, but still... lots of patience is needed to watch this movie, as well as a good mood.
Besides the intense story, this movie has also solid performances by the actors. For example, Al Pacino is great as usual. Russell Crowe is really good in this role, much better than in any of those which he was nominated Best Actor. Cristopher Plummer has a strong presence too. And Bruce McGill is terrific, being simply incredible when he loses his temper and shouts the line «Wipe that smirk off your face!»
The soundtrack is good. The dark/noir-like atmosphere is good too. The quotes are, most of them, very good. The scenario varies a lot - it goes from exotic places/sceneries to extremely simple and sometimes crude backgrounds, but this combination doesn't work badly.
The nervous and tense Jeffrey Wigand is the main character of the movie. He lives such a conflict situation that I wouldn't want to be in his skin. I wouldn't want to go through a dilemma like that.
Despite being a quite dramatic and intense film, it also has its big moments of comedy. After all, even the most dramatic stories usually have their own moments of comedy.