The Insider (1999)

People are voting emotionally.

Great Film overall

An action-packed slog

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The InsiderThe vulnerability and the intensity that is at stake in here is conveyed accurately which helps the audience connect with in its first few minutes. The adaptation is smart if not gripping and well edited for the most part of the drama is drawn out from the conversation that resonates too much practicality which helps the feature keep it grounded. Michael Mann is no short on execution and is not only supported but celebrated with the help of amazing cinematography and brilliant background score. The feature scores on high pitches through performance and the strength of the star cast like Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Philip Baker Hall and Christopher Plummer. The Insider is a typical informative feature that is not only accurate but is entertaining and electrifying too that keeps the audience engaged through its 157 minutes of runtime where one cannot not be moved by these pragmatic characters.

When Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) made the statement above in a sworn deposition, it changed the tenor of the story for me. Everyone knows that smoking cigarettes is bad for you, but when the damage caused by smoking is exacerbated by chemically treated additives designed to affect the brain and central nervous system so that users become addicted, well that adds a whole new dynamic to this story of corporate complicity to prevent the truth from reaching the American public. I wasn't following this news event all that closely when it broke, but one didn't have to because most of the glaring headlines told the story. I do remember the bit about the 'nicotine delivery business' and it had the effect of sending chills up your spine when associated with the 'ammonia chemistry' Wigand also spoke about. For me, this film played out almost like an espionage thriller. You had the upper levels of corporate and media hierarchy entangled in a sophisticated legal dance designed to keep the truth from coming out. One has to credit the real Dr. Wigand for the courage and fortitude required to withstand the daily onslaught against his character and integrity. Russell Crowe turns in a skillfully conflicted performance of a family man on the brink of having his entire world collapse while trying to do the right thing. Al Pacino may be better known for other roles but he was never finer than he was here as firebrand CBS producer Lowell Bergman, carrying his loyalty and integrity right to the very edge with his company and on-air personality Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer). The only part of the script I didn't agree with was when Crowe's character is described by Bergman as being an ordinary person under extraordinary pressure for telling the truth. No matter how you slice it, Wigand was no ordinary person to put up with a divorce, the breakup of his family, and personal character assassination in order to out the tobacco companies. It takes a certain kind of individual in the face of overwhelming opposition to become, in a paraphrase of an earlier comment, a truth delivery system.

Even as of today, I still cannot understand why Al Pacino has only won the Oscars once. Obviously, for his unbelievable talent, he should have won more and much more than that. He is forever an American treasure, one of the most beloved stars, and one of the greatest actors of all time. This film "The Insider" uses a slow-building approach, which culminates in a stunning last 30 minutes. The several outbursts of the character Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) clearly show that Al Pacino has the best line delivery ever. Even Tom Hanks or Jimmy Stewart could not reach that level. Lowell Bergman, representing integrity, remains one of the most memorable characters in American cinema.

The Insider (1999) Plot In A Paragraph: Based on a true story about a CBS 60 Minutes-episode in 1994 on malpractices in the tobacco industry, that was not aired because CBS parent company Westinghouse objected. This is a much better movie than I Remembered, but it's still long and slow at times, and I do still think it could use a bit of trimming here and there. But Mann does a good job of building suspense and frustration.Al Pacino and Russell Crowe are both superb. (I personally think Pacino should have been nominated alongside Crowe.) They are ably backed up by great supporting actors Christopher Plumber, Phillip Baker Hall and Bruce McGill.As always in a Mann movie we get strong female characters. Diane Vernora (who previously started in Heat) What was dramatised Hollywood invention and what was real I guess we won't know!! The Insider grossed $29 million at the domestic Box Office to end the year the 69th highest grossing movie of 1999.