Simply Wonderful

Rating: 9/10 (5 November 1999)

Just been to see The Insider and Words do indeed Fail.
I think the plot isn't as good as Heat, but the direction is probably better. And the soundtrack is even more amazing! It may not feature the line "risk versus reward, baby", but it still rocks majorly.
Pacino is actually quite brilliant, Russell Crowe is good, the other people are cool, and Diane 'oh look she's in Heat too' Venora is ok. There's a great cameo by Gina Gershon looking horny as ever, and lots of fab southern accents.
But the whole thing is classic 'the same guy who did Miami Vice'. It's like he's conscious of it being a bit of a dull story, so he decides to just make it really watchable and an incredible audio-visual experience. There's a bit near the start where they are having a conversation by sending each other faxes that is soooooo M Mann! And the scene where Crowe arrives at the court to give his testimony (which is your bog standard Lot's Of Journalists Standing Outside and People Saying 'No Comment') is simply magical.
At 157mins, it's a bit short though (seriously!); it's even a bit rushed at the start, although he manages to dwell wonderfully on the stuff near the end.