A mature film and telling of a tale..for everyone

Rating: 10/10 (13 February 2004)

It is very hard these days to go in a pitch a film to a major studio or distributor that doesn't have loads of special effects, sex, young people having sex, the car chases, profanity. I am sure the first words out of the mouth of an executive is, "Well, what makes this film sexy?" That means, what puts butts in the seats and sells popcorn.
Here you have a film that tells the story of a Corporate whistle blower. Not just any whistle blower, but one for big tobacco and he tells his tale on the one place Corporations don't want to have their tales exposed: The TV Newsmagazine "60 Minutes". Does this sound like a fun film? A film that will get the teens going in droves or adults to shell out $8.00? No. But it did.
The strengths of this film is based on the performances of the characters. as well as in the pacing and telling of the tale. Being that I am not a Russell Crowe fan, he made me a fan of his work with this film. He plays the lead character, the whistle blower Dr. Wygand and makes you really feel for him, his family, his decisions. matched well is the performance of Al Pacino who plays the Journalist/Producer for 60 minutes, Lowell. Al Pacino is as equally wonderful showing how stories are developed, produced and killed..in the corporate TV world of "60 Minutes".
"The Insider" does one thing extremely well and it makes you an insider as you watch. You become involved in the Wygand story for sure, but you also get really involved with the workings of getting a story together for 60 Minutes and the bigger corporation, CBS. You realize getting a story together for "60 Minutes" isn't all that easy and even if you have a story -- the surrounding elements of competitive Journalism with Magazines and Newspapers as well as the Network you work can be a battle ground within itself.
This is a look into real Journalism to tell the people of the Nation, of the World when something is endangering your life and how hard it is to get it on air, to face so much including lawsuits and jail just to tell a story -- make the public aware. This is before the "spin", before the "politics", before the looking for sexy entertainment value that has overtaken Journalism and TV today. Director Michael Mann knows how to build suspense without drawing conclusions -- allowing you to use your brain and do it yourself.
An Excellent film -- excellent acting, excellent story.