Product: The Insider [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 4.0
Great direction and acting elevate this smokey story
Quick camera movements and hushed dialog heighten the claustrophobia and paranoia faced by Russel Crowe, the putative hero of "The Insider". When the story starts, Wigand is a well-paid research scientist for a cigarette manufacturer. Wigand's manicured home, family and life mirror his life, but when the flick opens, we have the sense that it's already over for him. He's clearly had enough of the cigarette industry, but knows he could lose a severance package negotiated to keep him silent about the workings of his ex-employer's marketing tactics. Al Pacino as Lowell Bergman, a producer for 60 Minutes proves, at about the same time, that he's not afraid to put his personal safety on the line for the story. Christopher Plummer is a surprisingly effective Mike Wallace. In the "Insider", they come together in a sort of manipulative morality tale about corporate greed and nicotine. Though there's no secret about the health risks of chain smoking, Wigand threatens to expose the industry's attempts to make cigarettes more addictive.Unfortunately, Wigand's attempts to expose his former employers - through both legal action and through an expose on "60 Minutes" runs into obstruction by the industry. Losing his severance package and soon his pretty family, Wigand's life is soon turned upside down. On Bergman's end, his efforts to air Wigand's expose are morphed from a complex story involving well-meaning journalists rendered powerless by questionable law - into a simpler story of noble journalist Davids against the might of corporate Goliaths (the flick shamelessly touts "corporate" as if it were a profane word, as in "did CBS News cave in to CBS Corporate?"). Mike Wallace and Don Hewitt, who probably had no power to resist CBS's initial ban against the Wigand story, are now seen as craven corporate lackeys (Wallace, who is fearless in the face of an Hizbollah bigwig early in the movie, cowers at the thought that he may be reduced to doing NPR if he disobeys orders). Played by Pacino, Bergman is the hero here (the script seems to credit him for leaking the banned story to the print media, even though WSJ is credited with doing it themselves), while Wigand is well meaning to the point of martyrdom.Unfortunately, this account of dirty tricks and cigarette makers is undone by its own murky paranoia - just how does "Big Tobacco" manage to hold onto their political power the way nicotine holds onto smokers? Least convincing is speed with which the editorial staff at "60 Minutes" caves into corporate pressure to dump the story. It's never really explained how guys who regularly face-off against government bureaucrats, corporate honchos and terrorist leaders in the darkest corners of the new century crumble like a house of cards before big tobacco. There's a huge moral dilemma that never makes it to the story.For all its murkiness, the film remains evocative and irresistible - great scenes, like Crowe's epiphany in a hotel room, and Pacino's giving a hotel attendant long-distance instruction in the art of talking like Al Pacino. Much of the dialog sounds like a collection of newspaper blurbs, but the story's focus and some unforgettable acting make the insider a story you just can't get yourself out of.