Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5355 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-01-08
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Italian, Polish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 151 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
As revisionist history, Michael Mann's intelligent docudrama The Insider is a simmering brew of altered facts and dramatic license. In a broader perspective, however, the film (co-written with Forrest Gump Oscar-winner Eric Roth) is effectively accurate as an engrossing study of ethics in the corruptible industries of tobacco and broadcast journalism. On one side, there is Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), the former tobacco scientist who violated contractual agreements to expose Brown & Williamson's inclusion of addictive ingredients in cigarettes, casting himself into a vortex of moral dilemma. On the other side is 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), whose struggle to report Wigand's story puts him at odds with veteran correspondent Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) and senior executives at CBS News.

As the urgency of the story increases, so does the film's palpable sense of paranoia, inviting favourable comparison to All the President's Men. While Pacino downplays the theatrical excess that plagued him in previous roles, Crowe is superb as a man who retains his tortured integrity at great personal cost. The Insider is two movies--a cover-up thriller and a drama about journalistic ethics--that combine to embrace the noble values personified by Wigand and Bergman. Even if the details aren't always precise (as Mike Wallace and others protested prior to the film's release), the film adheres to a higher truth that was so blatantly violated by tobacco executives seen in an oft-repeated video clip, lying under oath in the service of greed. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Special Features
German
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English German
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interviews
Italian\Polish\

Synopsis
Based on the article The Man Who Knew Too Much, THE INSIDER depicts the true story of Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), a successful scientist who is fired from the Brown & Williamson tobacco company for objecting to certain lab tests. He signs a confidentiality agreement to ease the company's nervousness, but when hotshot 60 MINUTES producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) recruits Wigand to help him decipher some technical documents, he realizes that there's a bigger story hiding inside Wigand. Eventually Bergman convinces him to break the agreement and sit for an interview with Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer). The resulting media frenzy causes Wigand to lose the support of his family and forces Bergman to confront the harsh reality of his business. Additionally, Wigand is recruited by the state of Mississippi to testify on its behalf that cigarettes are, in fact, addictive. To pay the rent, he begins teaching high school chemistry, waiting for Bergman to convince the network to air the piece. Buckling under corporate pressure, CBS pulls the plug, which sparks Bergman to leak information to the press. As Wigand deals with his personal dilemma, Bergman battles the corporation that begins to show its true colors. Both men must decide for themselves if they've made the right choices.

Like his other films THIEF, MANHUNTER, and HEAT, director Michael Mann takes on the theme of a man trying to do the right thing while trapped by circumstances that could destroy him. Once again Mann pulls terrific performances from his entire cast. Crowe is outstanding as Jeff Wigand, the beleaguered insider who risks everything for the truth. Pacino is suitably tenacious as the once-radical producer Bergman, and Christopher Plummer is excellent as news anchor Mike Wallace. With its brilliant performances and stunning cinematography, THE INSIDER is an emotionally intense film that reveals the consequences of standing up for the truth.

Customer Reviews

Highly intelligent and relevant
To say that anyone outside the US won't fully understand this film rather misses the point. This isn't just a film about CBS, nor is it only about the evils of the tobacco industry. It is about how ruthlessly profit-driven business firms can bully, threaten and ultimately destroy the life of the little guy. It is about how they can use their financial power to manipulate the media into presenting the public with a distorted version of the truth. Such themes apply to far more than mere American domestic issues - they are problems inherent in big business and the media worldwide. This makes 'The Insider' a very important film. There is a classy director at the helm in Michael Mann, and a pair of live-wire lead actors in Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, who both give sympathetic portrayals, but are never cardboard cut-out heroes. This is a must see: it will change the way you think about the way in which corporations and the media work.

As good as any 70s conspiracy flick
These kind of films (ie Parallax View, All the President's Men, The Conversation etc) were staple parts of the halcyon days of Hollywood in the 1970s, but died out somewhat in the 80s onwards.

So it's nice to see Michael Mann pick up the reins and show that in these days of exploding White Houses and strangely attired superheroes that he is the most sensitive and character focussed director around.

Based on an article that appeared in Vanity Fair, centred around the plight of 'whistle blower' Jeffrey Wigand, the film centres on the efforts of both Wigand and Lowell Bergman in exposing the unsavoury practices of the so called 'Big Tobacco' companies in increasing nicotine levels in cigarette produce to keep 'users' buying. When Wigand - essentially an executive chemist at one of the big companies - began questioning the ethics of such practices, he was hounded out of his job and tied up in legal tape to prevent him spilling the beans. Bergman, a producer on 60 minutes attempts to untie the tape . . .

Stunning visuals and a brilliantly direct script, allied to Crowe's mesmerising performance as Wigand and a more-measured-than-of-late performance by the legendary Pacino, mean this film flies past - quite an effort when it's three hours long.

One of Mann's strengths is, as I have said, characterisation, and he is careful not to deify either lead. Wigand in particular is presented as a flawed, lonely man, generally untrusting and uncomfortable around others. Crowe certainly merited his Oscar nomination and should feel robbed in not winning the award. Gladiator should be regarded as pay off for The Insider.

The set pieces are, as we have come to expect from Mann, sublime. In particular, the scene where Wigand locks himself in the hotel room overlooking Brown & Williamson's legal dept is absolutely beautiful. The music, the visual effects in the wall appearing to 'move' intercut with Bergman trying to phone Wigand from his holiday retreat, create, in my view, the best individual scene of any film I can remember.

A clearly heavy handed subject is dealt with sensibly, avoiding sentimentality and schmaltzy conclusions. Perhaps this contributed to the film's worryingly poor box office return in America. The film fared better in Europe, perhaps due to Mann avoiding preaching from the moral high ground.

Interestingly, Mann is a heavy smoker (and smoked constantly while writing the script with his associate Eric Roth) but there is not one cigarette smoked in the entire film.

Your DVD collection is not complete without this - although the outrageous lack of extras suggest that an update should be forthcoming (ie with the original 60 Minutes program etc).

superb,captivating and intelligent filmmaking
I saw this film with my girlfriend at an afternoon showing at my local multiplex,there were not a great deal of people watching,and the majority were restless or sleeping by the end. these people missed an astounding film.
The main performances are very powerfull- with Russel Crowe showing just what an amazing actor he is.
It is one of those films you dream about, a film that draws you in and for the lenghth of the film-the only the thing that matters.It is brilliantly directed by Michael Mann-very stylish as always,and although long at nearly 3 hours,you never get tired of watching.
Pacino and plummer add great performances in an unforgettable film.
Truly worth watching.