Smoke 'em out

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2007)

I still remember when "60 Minutes" interviewed Jeffrey Wigand, and I thought that Michael Mann's "The Insider" did a swell job telling the story. I'm not a bit surprised that the tobacco industry did what they did. According to what I read, General Motors tried to stop "Roger and Me" from getting released, so it should be no shock that Brown & Williamson tried to go after Jeffrey Wigand and "60 Minutes".
I recall that Russell Crowe had to gain a lot of weight for his role as Wigand, only to lose it to play Maximus in "Gladiator". I guess that it's debatable whether or not Al Pacino eclipses him as producer Lowell Bergman, but both men do very well in their roles. I agree with a previous reviewer that Crowe's role here deserves more recognition (maybe even more than "Gladiator").
Anyway, this is a very important movie. It just goes to show what these corporate industries are really all about. Once again, Mann shows himself to be a capable director, as he did with "The Keep", "Heat" and "Ali".
Also starring Christopher Plummer, Lindsay Crouse, Philip Baker Hall and Gina Gershon.