Product: The Insider [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 5.0
Excellent
I have read a few reviews that question the historical accuracy of all the details, and I do not have enough knowledge to know whether it is accurate on every point or not, nevertheless, this is an excellent, contemporary drama.It is extremely realistic whether it is perfectly accurate or not. Again, I do not know if it is or it isn't.This is the movie, to me, that really showed Crowe's versatility as an actor. He really is outstanding in this movie. When you watch this movie, he portrays Jeffrey Wigand so well it is hard to believe it is Russell Crowe at times.Crowe brilliantly portrays the moral conflict within Wigand (whether that actually happended or not) as well as the fear and paranoia he experienced. The journalists and lawyers are all shown in a very realistic manner, which all shows the ordeal Wigand had to have endured during this process.Even though he made no attempt to look like him during this movie, I found Plummer's portrayal of Mike Wallace to be fascinating. It is hard to put my finger on it, but he really brought a presence to the screen and I loved every scene he was in.This is an exceptional movie. Great acting, great direction, strong tension and drama, very realistic, and a great story to boot. And although it would have been easy to jump on the anti-tobacco bandwagon and turn this into a political statement, he never does. Although I am no fan of big tobacco, I am no fan of Hollywood politics either.One of my top 10 movies.