A Plodding, implausible mess

Rating: 1/10 (10 November 2013)

Crowe plays a fired Tobacco Company employee whose conscience is burdened by a truth about nicotine everybody already knows. The premise of the film makes zero sense but to its credit, the film is consistent in maintaining its level of stupidity all the way through. Crowe's appalling rendition of an emotionally unstable whistle blower is a hate crime of a casting flub. But it's not half as bad as Diane Venora who supplies the ham as the whiny, nonsupporting wife in one of the most grating, amateurish acting performances in a film of this intended caliber. Pacino is excellent with his loud portrayal of 60 minutes producer Lowell Bergman and somehow fits perfectly in this dragging Tinseltownian cliché factory. Michael Mann, after 20 years, is still trying to convince himself that wobbling camera work for every scene is not annoying and distracting but is something adding beneficially to the viewing experience. It most certainly does not.