Product: The Insider [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 5.0
Perfect!
A movie about a whistle blower in a giant tobacco firm and a producer from 60 Minutes?! Wake me up when it's over. I'm sure that's what you're thinking. I know its what I was thinking. But then I noticed that this was a Michael Mann film, and after "Heat", I'll follow him anywhere.I beleive myself to be a true fan of film. It excites me. I want to care about the characters and what happens to them. I want to be visually enticed by the beauty of its photography. I want to have a reaction to a snappy line of a dialogue. I have rarely been as satisfied as I was upon walking out of "The Insider."The words "high drama" sum it up perfectly. I was on the edge of my seat watching this film. Russel Crowe delivers a superb performance. His silence. His struggle. His furrowed brow. He was so subtle and so commanding at the same time. To say I cared about him is an understatement.In the year of "American Beauty" and "Being John Malkovich" you would say it would be a losing argument to say that Michael Mann deserved the oscar for best director, but I truly believe he deserved it. He creates a world all of its own. A world that I lived in without regrets for almost three hours. This film was masterfully helmed by Mann. He guides the flow of the action and the performances of the actors with such assuredness. He took the story of one nobody, one everyday man. He took his struggle and showed it to us. And most importantly, he made me care.I have seen this film (and I choose to use the word "film" as opposed to "movie" because it truly is a work of art) five times now. I will watch it again, either on my own or when I am showing it to a friend. This is a film that all should see.