The Insider (1999)

Posted : 2 months, 1 week ago at Sep 11 1:59

Russell Crowe is the insider trying to expose the truth of the mega-business of tabacco & Al Pacino is the outsider who finds himself involunteerily pitted against the corporate politicks of the media which both men were counting on to help in the cause. Watching both actors on screen is an example of the kind of movie chemistry that can result from the combination of solid acting abilities along with the directing & writing powess of Mr. Mann. And all this without the need of any special effects or CGI, & yet a film that still provides a level of entertainment on par with that of any big budget blockerbuster.




Rating : 9/10

Posted : 9 months ago at Feb 23 7:03

"I told the truth." A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a "60 Minutes" expose on Big Tobacco. Al Pacino: Lowell Bergman Against this backdrop director Michael Mann gives us The Insider, a film every bit the equal in seriousness to All the President's Men. Russell Crowe plays Tobacco Executive Jeffrey Wigand. Al Pacino is Sixty Minutes Producer Lowell Bergman. Wigand has just been fired from his $300,000 a year job. Bergman wants help deciphering a tobacco industry document. The two of them start an uneasy relationship. The film suggests Wigand's employer began spooking his family BEFORE the executive agreed to become a whistleblower for Sixty Minutes. I doubt that is true. Soon the two men are developing the story. The M...Read more

Rating : 9/10

Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago at Jun 27 22:10

This is the true story of Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), a man who signed a confidentiality agreement before getting fired from a big tobacco company. Hotshot *60 minutes* producer Bergman (Al Pacino) asks Wigand to decipher some technical documents, and soon realizes there's a bigger story hiding inside Wigand. On top of that, Wigand is recruited to testity in Mississippi for a case that claims cigarettes *are* addictive. The *60 minutes* piece will eventually be pulled because of corporate pressure. Wigand deals with his personal dilemma, and Bergman battles the corporation. Both men will struggle against Big Tobacco's attempts to silence them and against the CBS television network's cowardly complict preference of putting money as a higher priority over the truth. True colors of ...Read more

Rating : 8/10