The Insider (1999)

If you are a fan of cigarette companies or cigarettes in general, you should probably take a 2 hour and forty minute smoke break for this one. The Insider is the story of how Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), now possibly the most famous whistle blower of all time, and Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) manage to bring into the public forum the fact that big tobacco was aware that the product they were producing is both addictive and bad for a person's health. This is one of the best movies that I have seen in a long while, there is no surprise that it was nominated for best picture. The Insider ultimately lost to Saving Private Ryan, in fact it lost all seven Oscars it was nominated for, but it was still a great movie. The acting in this movie is unbelievable. Al Pacino does a phenomenal job, not overwhelming the role with his personality, but portraying Bergman's own neurosis perfectly. Russell Crowe is amazing as Wigand. As far as I know, this was his first big leading role, before we all became familiar with his Australian hooliganism, which can sometimes damage his characters; in The Insider, he was amazing. The best portrayal of anyone in this movie though, I thought was Christopher Plummer's Mike Wallace. I actually did not know what the real Wallace looked like, and at the time, I wondered if it was actually Mike Wallace playing himself. The Insider is based on a true story, although it does state at the end that many of the specific moments were dramatized. That said, I found the story completely believable and riveting. The only part that I question were the decisions made in reference to Wigand's wife. She is not portrayed in a very positive light, and I wonder about the accuracy of this. The only other problem I had was that this movie may overly vilify tobacco companies. While this is pretty common place right now, I do feel for the persecuted smoker, who is more than within his or her rights to make his or her own decisions. All told, I loved this movie, and am trying to get my wife to watch it with me again. I give The Insider 4 stars.