Product: The Insider [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 4.0
Life or Death
"The Insider" is one of the most incendiary movies of the 90's. The movie is based on a magazine article, and for the most part the movie follows the article very accurately. The acting is incredible, except for the fact that Pacino may have wanted to tone down his performance as Bergman. The story itself is really a heroic story. Both Wigand and Bergman desparately want to do the right thing, but are constantly foiled by corporate greed. The companies in the movie (Brown & Williamson and CBS) also want to do the right thing but they do it under the purview of corporate responsibility. However, we should not forget what this movie is really about. It is about how the cigarette industry has manufactured a product that has lead to the death of millions of Americans. What Wigand revealed was that the tobacco companies manipulated their product with a known carcinogen. Director Michael Mann directs this movie with the serious intensity that it is due. One of the scenes that sticks out in my mind is where Wigand is being driven to his deposition in Mississippi. On one side of the motorcade is a graveyard, obviously representing death, and on the other side is the sea arguably representing life. Thus, we should know that this movie is really about life and death, and the decisions that people make that influence the lives of millions of Americans.