The Insider

The Insider (1999) is about a scientist deciding whether to speak. Jeffrey Wigand had been head of research at Brown & Williamson; after being fired he makes contact with Lowell Bergman, a producer at 60 Minutes. The film tracks both men, one risking his family and a confidentiality agreement, the other his institution and his profession. The second half arrives at the real subject. CBS News refused to broadcast Wigand's full interview, citing the risk of litigation. The segment only aired complete after The New York Times wrote about it. Mike Wallace objected to how the film portrayed him. He said two thirds of it was quite accurate but rejected the implication that he had been slow to resist the corporate pressure. Michael Mann directed. Al Pacino plays Bergman and Russell Crowe plays Wigand. It received seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe, and won none. It cost between 68 and 90 million dollars and grossed 60.3 million worldwide, a commercial failure. It runs 158 minutes. Good for: journalism, stories about corporate pressure, and Michael Mann's visual language. Less good for: 158 minutes with almost no action. Mann compresses events for dramatic effect and the sequence does not match the record exactly, which is the most consistent criticism the film has drawn.