Brilliant film.... stunning

Rating: 10/10 (7 November 1999)

If you liked The Sixth Sense and Fight Club, watch this and find out what a great film is supposed to be like. If you liked American Beauty, come see its strongest Oscar challenger so far this year. Personally, I find The Insider to be hands down the best film I've seen so far this year.
People will say (have said, actually) that it's boring or too long. If you see this movie, be prepared. It is long. But I never once looked at my watch (notwishstanding the fact that I don't have one), and I was never bored for a moment. I was completely engrossed from start to finish. At movie's end, I would have happily sat down again (after a brief stretch) and watched it again, despite the lateness of the hour.
The performances are magical. Pacino, Crowe, and Plummer all must be seen. Let's hope this pushes Crowe up a notch in the realm of professional respectability.
But it's the direction that makes this film. When it's praised, it's the director being praised. The long pauses, which irritate some (when it's criticizes, it's the director being criticized), provide the viewer with a peaceful moment which is needed to process and come to terms with the material. The story is not thriller material, but the direction provides all the tension and excitement of a thriller. But most thrillers are mindless, and a savage, relentless pace doesn't hurt the narrative. In this film, however, the tension and excitement must never be allowed to obscure the story. The pauses allow for the audience to stay with the story. They are gently pulled along with the events, rather than having images and ideas simply thrown up at them.
Lastly, I would just like to point out that Lowell Bergman and Jeffrey Wigand, as they are portrayed in this film, are probably the two most heroic, admirable characters I've ever seen on film.