Review of The Insider (1999) by Gregory G — 21 Jun 2014

Big Tobacco and Big Business are the targets of this compelling drama based on an article in Vanity Fair, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," by Marie Brenner. Russell Crowe is Jeffrey Wigand; the whistleblower for a major tobacco company, who appears on the CBS investigative news program "60 Minutes," to detail how chemicals are used in the product to enhance a nicotine addiction.

Corporate pressure, as the result of possible litigation, forces the segment to air in modified form. Al Pacino is the news producer Lowell Bergman, who repeatedly informs his sources that they have his word that he will protect them.

Michael Mann directed and co-wrote the script with Eric Roth. This is among the most intelligent depictions of journalism since "All the President's Men." In the first hour, the story revolves around Crowe's hesitation about whether or not to do the interview, but in the second hour it shifts to focus on how financial implications can affect journalistic integrity.

Bergman is credited as a consultant on the movie, so it is slanted to give him a favorable portrayal as the only journalist with integrity, while his colleagues are portrayed as sell-outs. It appears to be a somewhat distorted view that is hard to accept.

Crowe is less physically imposing here, but he is just as commanding and more subtle than usual. He often presses his forefinger against his nose to adjust his glasses. Pacino is forceful without the histrionics.

Christopher Plummer is masterly as an arrogant Mike Wallace. With Philip Baker Hall as Don Hewitt, Diane Venora, Lindsay Crouse, Debi Mazar, Bruce McGill, Michael Gambon, Stephen Tobolowsky, Gina Gershon.