The Insider a.k.a. Al Pacino on the Phone
by Bruce Cantwell
Michael Mann's take on the relationship between Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) a scientist fired from Brown & Williamson tobacco company and 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) is an interesting collision of style and substance.
Though based on a true story, there's no mistaking this one for a documentary. Michael Mann is the guy who brought us The Last of the Mohicans with Englishman Daniel Day Lewis as Natty Bumppo. And remember Miami Vice? Hm. Screenwriter Eric Roth did some uncredited work on Apollo 13 (another "nonfiction" film stretching truth further than Marlon Brando's waistband) but he also wrote Canadian Jim Carrey's The Cat in the Hat.
As puzzling as this film is to watch: why is Mike Wallace played by Canadian Christopher Plummer? Why does a scientist for Brown & Williamson tobacco dye his hair blond? Why is "Singing Detective" Michael Gambon portraying a Kentucky cigarette CEO and what is the program director from WKRP in Cincinatti (Gary Sandy) doing as his legal counsel? While we're at it, what is Gina Gershon, featured lesbian in Bound and featured showgirl in Showgirls doing representing CBS? The themes of loyalty and betrayal anchor what could have easily become a Hollywood schlock-fest.
by Bruce Cantwell
Michael Mann's take on the relationship between Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) a scientist fired from Brown & Williamson tobacco company and 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) is an interesting collision of style and substance.
Though based on a true story, there's no mistaking this one for a documentary. Michael Mann is the guy who brought us The Last of the Mohicans with Englishman Daniel Day Lewis as Natty Bumppo. And remember Miami Vice? Hm. Screenwriter Eric Roth did some uncredited work on Apollo 13 (another "nonfiction" film stretching truth further than Marlon Brando's waistband) but he also wrote Canadian Jim Carrey's The Cat in the Hat.
If you enjoyed The Insider, you may enjoy 1979's The China Syndrome in which Jack Lemmon is the uneasy whistle blower.
Another great satire of journalistic integrity is Sidney Lumet's Network.
In David Mamet's The Winslow Boy, a father takes on a nation to defend his son's word.
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