Product: The Insider [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 2.0
Too pretentious and boring for an Oscar
IT WILL TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY ONLY IF YOU'RE ASTHMATIC...Not that I've never liked long movies on serious topics with good actors, but not this one - it's difficult to withstand 150 min of gray-haired obese R Crowe (although I'm glad this part made for his raise to fame),even when he's very persuasively portrays pangs of conscience of an ex-CEO of a big tobacco company who wants to help bring overwhelming truth that smoking is bad and causes addiction to American people with help of ever-green, sorry, ever-young A Pacino, a journalist "truth-digger" who wants to push it through to national TV. I agree, it's not all actors' fault, but some scenes are intentionally dragged out with no particular reason, so called "terror unleashed" upon R Crowe's character is unpersuasive, music is unnerving - this dramatic howling would have suited some Joan d'Arc-type movie.In short, such movies are done for a very limited type of viewers if it was so brilliant, why it didn't receive an Oscar? Compare with American Beauty. See the difference?). To me personally,who is too young to adore A Pacino only because he starred in some good mafia-movies 20 years ago, thank God we've fast forward, otherwise I'd be peacefully shoring after 30 min of the movie.