Review

The Insider was inspired by an article published in the magazine "Vanity Fair" in the mid-ninties. The period was a fascinating time. As the eyes of the media were simultaneously fastened on the O.J. Simpson not guilty verdict and the antics of the unabomber, yet another story of an epic magnitude was unfolding in a small southern state in the U.S.

The Michael Mann directed story focuses on the Faustian bargain of a news program and a regular man. It centers around the producer of the popular American news program "60 Minutes" and the man he persuades to squeal on the tobacco industry. The Insider effectively zones in on ordinary people trapped in extraordinary circumstances.

The Insider begins in a squat room in North Africa. A blindfolded man is lead into a room to meet a sheik who he wants to persuade to appear on a news program. The sheik agrees, then abruptly disappears. The blindfolded man reveals himself to be Al Pacino. Pacino is presented as a passionate man who blindly pursues the truth. This theme reverberates throughout the film.

The film switches back to the U.S. where internal documents from the leading cigarette maker in the world are leaked to Al Pacino. Pacino realizes he holds the skeleton of a newsworthy piece, his only problem is that he can't actually decipher the information. The resourceful producer hunts down a man (played by Russell Crowe) who can help him.

"60 Minutes" is a weekly news magazine that has dominated television ratings in the U.S. for over 20 years. In the mid-nineties, the news program was presented with a rare opportunity to liberate the public from the white lies of the tobacco industry by airing an exclusive interview of a former Vice President of Research with a formidable tobacco company. The interview gave detailed information on how the tobacco industry developed additives for cigarettes of near carcinogenic proportions.

The film is well cast. Australian actor, Russell Crowe once again masters an American accent. Initially, his character as the former head of research with the corporate tobacco behemoth B&W seems underwritten. Yet as Crowe's character's backstory unfolds, he becomes infinitely more interesting. Remarkably, he portrays the abrasive and foreboding executive sympathetically.

Surprising, Al Pacino, whose most recent roles have been theatrically shrill, gives a solid performance as the producer who helps Crowe contend with his pact with the devil. The two characters primarily communicate by telephone. Only Michael Mann could create a remarkable story whose pivotal scenes are executed via the telephone. After Crowe looses his family, he checks into a hotel across the street from his old employer, B&W. He becomes a voyeur whose daily entertainment revolves around observing B&W's legal team destroy his life. At this point, the one thing that gives his fragile life hope is the certainty that "60 Minutes" will air his interview. The character believes the televised piece will alleviate the problems with his family.

"60 Minutes" and the people associated with the television program were once famous for their unwavering commitment to journalistic integrity. The 2 decades the producers spent creating that moral presence quickly crumbled once they pulled their featured piece on the tobacco industry. "60 Minutes" was lambasted by the media-which were essentially their peers, for caving in to lawyers. One prescient character tellingly asserted, "Fame is only temporary, infamy is forever."

FilmFestivals.com reporter
Rita Johnson