The Insider (1999)
review
Smoking is bad for your health. Everybody knows it. But people still enjoy it. And the tobacco companies are making big money. Worse, they even lie about the fact that nicotine is addictive. So what if it's addictive? People are still going to smoke it.
Too bad these tobacco companies keep on lying, and with their big bucks, they can do whatever they want, create whatever lies they want. Jeffrey Wigand (Russel Crowe) used to be a top executive at Brown & Williamson, the third largest tobacco firm in the US. That was until he got fired by his boss because of "poor communication skills". But from his time at B&W, he knew a whole lot of information that could bring the tobacco business down.
So Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), producer of CBS' 60 minutes, is looking for Wigand and he tries to make Wigand confess in front of national television about all these tobacco firms lies. But in doing that isn't easy.
Wigand has to deal with his ex-office. They have the money, he doesn't. And with money, you can do almost everything. On top of that, he has to deal with his wife, who can't support him, and keeps on whining about the money. What a rollercoaster ride for Wigand, and Bergman can't keep up.
It's a fantastic investigative movie, based on a true story and true facts. Although the movie exaggarated some facts, but at least they admitted it at the end of the movie. No wonder that this movie is nominated for Best Film at the Oscar. You can really feel the struggle that Wigand and Bergman have to make during the whole process of being a whistle blower.
Russel Crowe's performance is outstanding, and he did just fine playing alongside Al Pacino. Whenever Al Pacino is in a role that requires screaming and confronting somebody, than he is the man.
Michael Mann is getting better. He made the bad guy the good one in Heat, and he made everybody dressing up like Don Johnson during the Miami Vice days. Here he put suspense from telephone conversations, not with fights and gun shots all over the place.
Go see this movie if you haven't.
Indra Moeljadi knows that nicotine is addictive, but who cares
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