Product: The Insider [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 5.0
Places, Please. Quiet on the Set. No Smoking Allowed.
Watch closely as Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe, in an unbelievably natural and outstandingly good performance), after having lost his family, his reputation, and almost everything he has, begins to teach his first chemistry class. By way of introducing himself, he says to his students something to the effect of "call me whatever you like."When we have reached this point in the movie, that seems cynically appropriate. Also cynically appropriate is the prop he chooses to use in class for the intital experiment. A butane lighter. A little cigarette lighter.As all his problems have stemmed from the tobacco company he used to work for, which now is harassing him, threatening him with jail, and worse. It is ironic that this little lighter pops up briefly in this scene. Yet it is a testament to the director, Michael Mann: he doesn't miss a trick.This is one beautiful docudrama. Seamlessly put together, with cautious acting by Al Pacino as the CBS "60 Minutes" producer Bergman to whom Wigand first comes under duress of his conscience, with a perfect script and a complicated theme, it is well worth watching more than once if you are a true movie lover. So, watch it more than once. Once for the acting: for Pacino; as I have said, who is understated, true, and pure in his portrayal of a newsman who has the confidence of a winner in the "news game" and learns the hard way it isn't that simple...that it isn't really just a game after all...for Christopher Plummer, who, playing Mike Wallace, has now redeemed himself forever, in my eyes, from his turn as Captain Von Trapp... and of course, for Russell Crowe, who as Jeffrey Wigand, affects every scene with his subtlely powerful depiction of a man torn between what he knows is right and what he knows will happen to his life if he chooses the ethical path. It's not easy having convictions if you work for a tobacco company, even if you simply are passionate about chemistry-- and that seems to be why he ended up there to begin with. As with the lighter he chooses to use in chemistry class, the love of science was what put him in the position he found himself in. What happened next makes us wonder about ourselves, our country, and convictions in general.Watch it one more time for the plot: You have the big business machines versus the little guys in two aspects and more: The tobacco industry vs. all of us, the tobacco industry vs. Weigand (what they do to him is disgusting), and the tobacco industry vs. CBS. Then you have CBS corporate/legal affairs vs. "60 Minutes". Then you have "60 Minutes" tearing itself apart under pressure--the scene between Pacino and Plummer when Plummer, as Wallace, explains why he can't stick up for the story as it stands is worth the price of the video alone.Watch it once more for the photography. If you like good shots and interesting photgraphy, you've got it here.Finally, watch it for the sheer pleasure of seeing a masterwork unfold in front of you. It's long: but you'll be glad. It's worth it.best wishes,Jeanps: I used to smoke Kools. I am wearing a patch as I type this.pps: If you need one more, "just for fun", reason to watch this movie, try counting the number of cell phone and general phone call scenes in it. You will not BELIEVE how many there are!