Genre: Biography / Drama / Thriller Director(s): Michael Mann Release Date: 28 October 1999 Movie rating: 7.9

Based on the real life story of a tobacco industry whistle blower, Michael Mann’s 1999 drama “The Insider” was a commercial failure and a critical success. It has received seven Academy Awards nominations, but won none of them. “The Insider” stars Russell Crowe as Dr. Jeff Wigand, a former employee in one of the major tobacco companies, and Al Pacino as Lowell Bergman, a producer for the CBS TV show “60 Minutes”. Lowell contacts Wigand, a respected biochemist, to help him understand a highly technical scientific document related to the tobacco industry. After their meeting Bergman begins to suspect that Wigand possesses information potentially damaging to the tobacco industry and wants him to do an interview, which sets off the industry’s defensive reflexes. Wigand is more or less directly pressured to remain silent, and Bergman grows more and more frustrated with CBS, seeing how the company is willing to sacrifice the journalistic freedoms for its own commercial interests. As Wigand’s life gets turned upside down and even the safety of his family is brought into question, Bergman fights a seemingly impossible battle against the corporate giants with near unlimited funds and power. The two principled men will risk losing everything in order for the truth to be heard.

To post a message, you need to login. If you don't have a MagWeb login, you can register here.