The Insider


Starring Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Philip Baker Hall, Debi Mazur, Colm Feore, Gina Gershon. Directed by Michael Mann. Written by Michael Mann and Eric Roth.

Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe) has a great paying job working as chief scientist for U.S. tobacco giant Brown & Williamson. The trouble is the company wants to use him to find ways to chemically boost nicotine in its cigarettes to drive sales. Wigand objects and is fired, getting a nice severance package and medical benefits to cover his daughter's severe asthma on the condition he sign an overbearing confidentiality agreement prohibiting him from disclosing any of the company secrets. Producer Lowell Bergman (Pacino) has a story about smoking causing fires, and contacts Wigand about him interpreting some Philip Morris documents. Slowly, Bergman begins to realize Wigand has much more to say. He tells him CBS will air his story, and has his story told in Mississippi court to attempt to protect his confidentiality agreement. After being harassed and having his life threatened by "unknown" sources, he's angry enough to put his story on tape.

He makes his deposition on tape, just after his wife takes the kids and leaves him. CBS prepares to air the story, but some CBS corporate suits (Gershon) want the story killed based on the possibility Brown & Williamson might sue CBS for "tortious interference" by airing the allegations. Unfortunately, Mike Wallace (Plummer) and 60 Minutes executive producer Don Hewitt (Hall) agree with their corporate masters, and Bergman is left to break the news to Wigand, and then fight back against the CBS cave-in.

Wigand is portrayed as a flawed loner who kept his family in the dark about his intentions, motivated as much by revenge against his bullying ex-employer as his interest in the public good. But so what if he was. One might say Brown & Williamson richly deserved it. Wigand lost his house, his lifestyle and his family when he blew the whistle, and despite his checkered past, deserves recognition for what it cost him. The film makes producer Lowell Bergman out to be the hero in all this - the man who used the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times by planting stories forcing CBS to air the report. He is the man who puts it all on the line because he was a man of integrity, who wanted to honour his word to Wigand and get the story on air. I wonder who was the consultant on this film. Wigand's wife does not come off well at all, shown as someone more concerned about losing her fancy lifestyle and ritzy house than about what her husband was going through, or the importance of the story he was going to tell. Mike Wallace is presented as an egotistical, arrogant showboat, more consumed with his celebrity and crusading-journalist image than about the effects he has on the subjects he subjects to interviews. I've watched many of his interviews and ambush tactics on 60 Minutes (although some of his subjects richly deserve it), and the way he's been portrayed is most plausible. At the end of the film, there is a statement that some events have been changed to increase dramatic effect, so one is not always sure which events are accurate, and which are embellished.

It would be easy to get on Wallace's and Hewitt's case about their cave-in, but they didn't do it for money for themselves, as some of the greedy CBS corporate suits are alleged to have done, but do it to preserve their show, and the network from future interference by big tobacco down the road. The movie is meant to be an indictment of corporate corruption of journalism, where corporate interests, in this case the sale of CBS to Westinghouse, determine what news is allowed to be aired. But, there is a huge difference between the calculatingly ruthless exploitation of people by the tobacco giants primarily to enrich shareholders and executives, and the caving-in of a news organization being bullied by the deep pockets and sleazy tactics of those same tobacco giants. In both cases, the real problem is the tobacco companies' neverending predilection to use any means necessary to save it's lucrative flow of money.

The performances across the board are excellent. It would not be surprising to see Oscar nominations for all of Pacino, Crowe and Plummer. Pacino tones down his often over-the-top histrionics, and delivers an thoughtful portrayal of a former radical journalist who likes the exposure his 60 Minutes affords his stories, but wonders if its all worth it under the demands of corporate compromises. Crowe is very internal in his approach, keeping the anger and feelings inside and on his face. And Plummer is very good, capturing the self-importance of veteran journalists never at a loss in promoting their integrity and values, but often caving to corporate interests. The pacing of the movie is relaxed, allowing for reflection of the issues presented, and the various filming styles add energy and intensity. The Insider is a very well-made movie doing justice to one of the top stories of this decade.




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