November 8, 1999

1999, 2 hrs 40 min., Rated R for language. Dir: Michael Mann. Cast: Al Pacino (Lowell Bergman), Russell Crowe (Jeffrey Wigand), Christopher Plummer (Mike Wallace), Diana Venora (Liane Wigand).

Here's a movie that you should see, despite the lame trailer that you've seen 100 times. The acting is superb, the topic interesting and despite the long run time (almost three hours) and subject matter the movie manages to be suspenseful and engaging.

Based on the "Vanity Fair" article "The Man Who Knew Too Much" by Marie Brenner, Michael Mann (Heat, Last of the Mohicans) sticks to the truth as he knows it for the most part, but admits in the closing credits that some events were dramatized for the film. While that is a tad disturbing, at least he didn't "Oliver Stone" the picture, changing or rearranging history to fit his goals.

The film takes its time to present the circumstances, moving slowly yet remains compelling, first focusing on Jeffrey Wigand's (Russell Crowe) decision to speak to the courts and media about how the "Seven Dwarfs," or seven CEO's of tobacco corporations lied to Congress and to the American people about their role in making cigarettes more addictive.

The second act is where my interest perked, dealing with "60 Minutes" and CBS' debates over whether they can air an interview with Wigand, possibly risking an enormous lawsuit from the bottomless pockets of Big Tobacco. As a man who makes a living in journalism (both print and television), I had more reason to be interested than the layperson, but that's not to say that any audience member won't be riveted by the behind the scenes goings-on of the most respected and highest rated newsmagazine in the business.

The acting in The Insider is some of the best work on screen this year. Every character has its flaws and all are shown with many, yet you like all of the main ones because it is reality. As producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) says, we are dealing with "ordinary people under extraordinary pressure." Just when you think you don't like someone, he does something redemptive, or another person says or does something that keeps him or her grounded.

Contrary to what is shown in the trailer, Al Pacino does not overact in The Insider, as he has been prone to recently in The Devil's Advocate, for example. Mann and Pacino worked together in Heat, and the director may know how to push the actor's buttons for a memorable and convincing performance.

In The Insider, Pacino is really the main character, the core of the film, manipulating the various and potentially confusing events into some semblance of order. Of course, this may have to do with the fact that the person he represents, "60 Minutes" producer Lowell Bergman, wrote the article that the picture is based. Thus, some dramatic licenses that Mann took may be the work of the real life Bergman, overreaching his actual role in the event a few years ago.

I am becoming a big fan of Russell Crowe lately, after great parts in L.A. Confidential and now The Insider. Crowe plays the whistle-blower at the heart of the matter, Wigand, fired from tobacco company Brown & Williamson, the third largest manufacturer of tobacco in the country. The situation in which he finds himself is more stress than I could take, and doubt few others would accept on their own accord. Do you take the moral high ground and risk your life or your family's, or do you keep silent and abide by the confidentiality agreement even though you know the corporation is lying about the biggest public health issue of the decade? It is a tough choice, and is well conveyed to the audience.

When you look at Diane Venora, who plays wife Liane Wigand, you may notice a particular resemblance to Jessica Lange. You will also notice that she is the one character in the film that may be the hardest to take and is easiest to dislike. I'm not sure the real Mrs. Wigand will appreciate this film as she comes across as shallow and materialistic.

Christopher Plummer may have had the toughest job in the film, portraying one of the most respected and talented journalists in the media, Mike Wallace. I suspect the real Wallace may not like some of the emotional topsy-turvy and wishy-washiness shown, but Plummer refrains from creating a caricature of the journalist. He is likable and professional, and I have a lot of respect for both Wallace and Plummer after The Insider.

In addition to the acting, the camera work and music create an intense and emotional atmosphere to the film. There are plenty of close-ups and slo-motion shots, focuses in and out of the foreground and background, as well as long pauses and work in the shadows. I freely allowed myself to be manipulated.

The perfect ending to the film may be written by Brown & Williamson themselves, considering a lawsuit against Disney for libel.

The tobacco corporation claims it never threatened Wigand and according to Mark Smith, a spokesman for B&W, a sworn statement by an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, unsealed last month, suggests that Wigand himself was responsible for the threats.

Now I may have been swayed to the side of the film, because to me this sounds like the company has not ended its' smear campaign and is trying to spin their way out of bad press. As if the tobacco companies aren't already the Great Satans of America.