I sometimes forget how good some actors are until I see them again in a well done film.
Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, and Christopher Plummer are excellent in – “The Insider”, 1999. (Not to be confused with Spike Lee’s “The Inside Man”, which I also enjoyed)
Based on a 1996 Vanity Fair magazine article “The Man Who Knew Too Much“, by Marie Brenner, the movie was directed by Michael Mann and stars Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand, an employee of a large tobacco company, who has a juicy story to tell.
He has secret documents in his possession that reveal that top executives of major cigarette companies perjured them selves before a congressional inquiry – all knew that tobacco was addictive, even while telling the public that nicotine was harmless.
After he sought out Mike Wallace to offer up the smoking gun, Wigand found himself in the midst of a game of hard ball – the players being the tobacco company, the U.S. government and CBS’ “60 Minutes”.
His attack of conscience catches him up in a giant publicity shredder, his personal life unravels, he is threatened with bodily harm, but, he’s still got information that can affect the health of thousands and cost big tobacco millions.
Our whistle blower discovers that sometimes the raw truth is not enough. It often depends upon how deep your pockets are and how much money you’re willing to lose.
Great performances by all – this “docudrama” is a very entertaining movie.