Absorbing but long

Rating: 7/10 (11 November 1999)

Let me say at the start that The Insider is an excellent movie, with great performances by Al Pacino, Russell Crowe and Christopher Plummer. And director Michael Mann does his best to make the experience as cinematic as possible. That said, this is not material that cries out for film treatment. Hand-held camera can only distract for so long that, in one scene, we're watching a guy make up his mind for five minutes. At over 2 1/2 hours its presence begins to wear thin after a while. But that's only because there's too much of a good thing; sometimes less is more.