Product: The Insider [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 5.0
An Analytical Film about Corporate Scandal.
Tobacco courtroom fraud does not seem like an exciting motion picture film to make and certainly the idea of corporate fatheads eating up all the capitalism they can manage is just a state of reality that one can sympathise with but also feel that people are ultimately responsible for their own actions and nobody is forcing the products down their throats. It seems that Michael Mann would have a lot to go up against here if he wanted to prove that �self-inflicted harm� is someone else�s responsibility. Mann does not avoid this element but he does aim his direction more at corporate employee suppression, the impact that their testimony may have on society, the importance of the freedom of speech, how the media can be manipulated and the influence on government and state sector lobbying.This is a very intelligent movie that brings one man�s quest to do battle with the giants into sharp contrast with the stark reality of its lunacy, shortcomings and psychological affects that is has on a family and one�s life in general. At times this picture is extremely deep and moving. It is also equally complex, controversial and conspires. Maybe repeat viewings are needed to capture all of its intricacy and involvedness with the real world corporate scandal scene.Russell Crowe plays Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, a scientist with a heart who believes that the tobacco giants he worked for perjured themselves in a court of law when they said that they believed that tobacco was not addictive. Wigand believes that while he worked for these companies that he was asked to develop a chemical system by which nicotine would be administered to the brain, through smoking, more quickly and effectively. He takes his story to CBS�s 60 minutes producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) and this starts a chain reaction where the corporate fatheads proceed to suppress him, the CBS show and resort to unconditional threats and exploitation of the man�s family that even involves manipulating the police services. The bottom line here - Money is Power.... but so are some other things.This is not all good guys vs bad guys stuff. At times Wigand comes across as a really gruff and stuck-up chemist with a grudge. Bergman, for all his interest and want to tell a good story, is also ultimately just a reporter who wants to be the one behind presenting the facts to the American public. Bergman�s story is just as interesting as Wigands. Wigand finds himself heavily suppressed by the corporate sector to the point where he is escorted to the courts under armed guard. Bergman finds himself, and his career, ruined by �corporate-CBS� who have final say over what they can or can not air.This is all good stuff and makes for remarkable viewing. It is very long, drawn out but never dull and does transcend its narrow theme to incorporate much more about the real world than just its corporate scandals. This is the kind of film that you would like to see Hollywood do more. It is brainy, thoughtful and thoroughly satisfying. It is also based on a true story. The film itself attracted some hullabaloo from the tobacco giants in question.Anybody can enjoy this film. It is a tense drama and certainly you will hard-pressed not to like it. If you are looking for a worthy and worldly reason for a drama then you do not have to look much further than The Insider.Great Cinema. Bold Filmmaking.