Review of The Insider (1999) by Eric G — 25 Oct 2010

This is cinema at its best! Entertaining, informative, stimulating and inspiring. One of the best films I have seen in years. Al Pacino is breathtaking in one of the best roles of his career, and an inspiring model of journalism integrity and conviction. Christopher Plummer offers a very strong supporting role as Mike Wallace, the famous host of CBS 60 minutes. Russell Crowe is not at his best but is ok. The direction by Michael Mann is perfect, great pace, great dialogue, and the photography is polished and raw at the same time. The music enhances the emotional impact of the images, and has a beautiful version of 'Safe from harm' by Massive Attack. The film is as much about the beginning of the end for the tobacco industry as about journalism.

The topic is close to my heart and explores the commercial and legal pressure and conflict of interest within a news organisation when a story becomes too embarrassing, even for an investigative news programme.

15 years on and it's still one of the biggest scandals in recent history, with a couple of wars and the BP explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which will certainly be turned into a film in a few years.