More than an interesting take on interesting events.

Rating: 8/10 (14 July 2001)

The Insider is a film in which people talk. A lot. They talk over dinner, they talk in cars and more often than not they talk on the phone. And yet it never bored me for a second. The main reasons: an intelligent, grown-up screenplay that never gives in to cheap entertainment, Michael Mann's spectacularly sweeping yet semi-documentarylike direction and, of course, the great performances.
Michael Mann and Eric Roth based this tale of the modern day David-versus-Goliath battle between whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand and faceless sigarette juggernaut Brown & Williamson (and journalistic integrity) on a Vanity fair article. It has led to a powerful script, not only succeeding in showing the issues it deals with, both also (or perhaps most of all) succeeding in telling the emotionally captivating story of Wigand himself. The film's certainly aided by Russell Crowes masterful performance, but the writing itself deserves attention for being emotionally gripping without ever being sentimental and for keeping the drama real (although it's basic story is fictionalised, of course). However, the only problem I have with this film also lies within the script. About 100 minutes into the film shifts its perspective from Wigand to Lowell Bergman, the producer on 60 Minutes, who's trying to get Wigand's testimony to the screens. A lot of people have already pointed this out as The Insider's main flaw, and I'd have to agree. Wigand is the tragic figure of the story, not Bergman, Wigand is making all the sacrifices, he's having his life ruined for telling the truth, not Bergman. Wigand's ordeal is far more captivating than Bergman's and therefore I would have preferred it if the film had continued focussing on Wigand. The fact that Crowe is absolutely brilliant and Pacino merely very good, doesn't help either.
As for directing, I think Mann is becoming better and better. I never really liked his older films. I remember seeing The Keep and being...well, baffled. I remember seeing Manhunter and although I enjoyed it, something didn't work for me. It always felt like style over content. With Heat however, Mann won me over. And with the Insider he proves he is still evolving as a director. The Insider looks great like any other of his films, but much like in Heat, style never overshadows content. It's always there to enhance the mood of a scene. The same goes for his genius use of a genius soundtrack (by Pieter Bourke and Lisa Gerrard). Still, the most amazing thing is the Mann's masking of the fact that this film is all talk.
Finally, there's the acting. I said it twice, and will say it again. Crowe is perfect as Wigand. He brings across every emotion not so much through words, but through facial expressions and body language. And he never does it in a way that is noticable as being 'acted'. Also, Crowe looks the role, having put on more than a few extra pounds. Watch this in conjunction with, say, L.A. Confidential, or Gladiator and you'll see Crowe is a total actor, a chameleon almost. And although he got a deserved Oscar for Gladiator, his performance here is more finely tuned. Pacino, on the other hand, is very good, but he's not exactly doing anything new. He's convincing but in certain scenes comes close to the overacting more suitable for The Devil's Advocate. The supporting actors are all good or better.
In short: Until the perspective shifts an emotionally powerful, highly intelligent, brilliantly acted and directed film, after the shift the 'emotionally powerful' is confined to the few scenes Crowe has left and the 'brilliantly acted' makes way for simply 'very well acted'. Still, I love the first part so much (and like the second part enough) that I can't rate this any lower than 9/10.