Disappointing and Satisfying

Rating: 7/10 (15 August 2014)

If you think it's a crime/ action/ thriller, you'll be disappointed. It's more like a documentary. Yes DOCUMENTARY. In fact if you look at the top of the title page of The Insider in IMDb, you'll notice that it says Biography|Drama|Thriller. So don't nag about how boring the movie is!
The main plot is very interesting. The Insider tells the story of a former top researcher of a big tobacco company Jeffrey Wigand(Russell Crowe), who is approached by Lowell Bergman(Al Pacino), producer of CBS News' TV show "60 Minutes", when Bergman learned that Wigand wanted to blow the whistle on his former employers. The dramatization of the original story fits nicely. But the screenplay holds back the story. Probably only average thing about the movie.
Director Michael Mann was between good and very good. Same goes for Al Pacino. But Russell Crowe was very good. The film editing could have been better. Score and sound editing were amazing.
So The Insider managed to win 7 Oscar nominations. But lost all of them. Now why is that? Was it a conspiracy against the movie by the tobacco companies? Or there were better movies? I myself believe that the film lacked the final touch. Something to push it past the finish line. May be a remake of the film can fix all the flaws and claim it's rightful place.