Truth is Stranger Than Fiction!

Rating: 10/10 (17 January 2010)

60 Minutes is one of our finest television hours today. It has been around since the late sixties and has become a fixture on Sunday nights. As it gets older, it gets better. If you are not a fan of 60 Minutes, you might be after this film. It's one of the most incredible news hours on television. I always watch the show on Sunday nights. Anyway, this film is inspired by the actual events that brought a segment to life despite the possible devastation and possible ruin of CBS and 60 Minutes. Russell Crowe played Dr. Jeffrey Wigrand, a tobacco industry scientist, who gets fired and realized his industry's lies. Somehow Pacino played Lowell Bergman, the 60 Minutes producer, who gets the story with Wigrand's interview which could shatter the tobacco industry's image as ignorant about the effects of smoking. Well, I think this film belongs to Pacino because he's brilliant in the role. Crowe does a brilliant performance as Wigrand, torn between his family and the truth. Christopher Plummer should have gotten an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Mike Wallace. There are not many actors who could have pulled off Mike Wallace but Plummer does a brilliant job that was ignored at Oscar time. Still the cast is brilliant with Lindsay Crouse as Bergman's wife; Debi Mazar as his assistant; Diane Venora as Mrs. Wigrand.