Phoning It In
The Insider
Cast: Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Diane Venora
Director: Michael Mann
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Brief Summary
This very long movie is a fictionalized account of how an ex-tobacco company scientist tried to expose Brown & Williamson on 60 Minutes, and how CBS balked under pressure.
Details
I've never seen so many telephones in my life. This movie is filled with talking, and a lot of it happens courtesy of the phone company. I say that right off the top because if you don't like films where the most action is someone yelling at someone else over the phone, you probably ought to skip this one.
That said, this movie is a wonderfully interesting story of how corporate interests subvert both a scientist's wish to better mankind and the journalistic pursuit to keep the public informed of the truth.
The drama rests on questions of strength.
Regarding Dr. Wigand: How tortured is he and how far will he go in risking his lifestyle, family and life to set things right? The other players have things at stake (reputation, money, lawsuits) but no one has what Dr. Wigand has put on the line. How much can you trust other people when you are personally the farthest one out on a limb?
The length of the movie is my main complaint with it. I was aware of many scenes that I thought could have been sacrificed to streamline the story. As a result, I found myself talking to the movie at those slow points (Think Mystery Science Theatre 3000).
Russell Crowe, Al Pacino and Christopher Plummer deliver wonderful performances and I can say they were completely believable, especially Plummer as Mike Wallace.
I have given this movie only 3 stars, but I think of it more as 3 1/2. I can't give it 4, and perhaps that's partly because I wasn't in the mood for so much talking in a film. The message in this film is an important one.
I recommend you rent this movie when you are in a serious mood.
