The Insider

Al Pacino & Russell Crowe star In The Insider, the most thrilling film to involve almost three hours of non-stop talking.

Michael Mann is surely one of the greatest directors working today. Last year's Collateral was an outrageously good thriller with The Cruiser playing against type.

Heat was memorable not only for the pairing of Pacino and DeNiro but also for the ambient mood typical of Man that pervades the movie and one of the greatest robbery shootouts of all time.

Mann is also responsible for Last Of The Mohicans, Manhunter (the best Hannibal Lecter film) and Ali (still vastly underrated).

The Insider however, along with The Keep (which will be appearing on this site soon), is one of Mann's truly underrated and overlooked movies. A shame, because it's also one of his best.

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Based on true events, the film tells the story of  Geoffery Wigand (Russell Crowe) a scientist for a tobacco company who, driven by his conscience, feels he has to blow the whistle on the tobacco secrets being hidden from the public. Namely, it's horribly addictive!

Pacino plays Lowell Bergman, a producer for the top rated 60 Minutes current affairs show on CBS. Bergman takes it upon himself to be Wigand's guiding light as he faces the public eye and seeks to keep the evils of big business at bay.

As his old company close in on him with death threats and arguably causing the collapse of his marriage, Wigand finds that holding on to the truth can be a dangerous and lonely occupation.

Unforgiveably overlooked on first release, The Insider is a masterclass of acting, story, mood, direction, dialogue and every other facet of fim-making. For a film that consists of little more than dialogue, it manages to grip with ferocious intensity.

Special mention must go to the soundtrack, the haunting ambience and wailing vocals serve to give us an insight into the two protagonists troubled minds. Never has a shot of someone sitting in a chair been so dramatic.

Parallels are drawn between Crowe & Pacino's characters. First Wigand finds himself strung out on his own, standing up to the might of a hugely powerful corporation. Then the focus swings to Pacino as he battles to take on a news channel more concerned with making money than revealing the truth. It's the similarities between the two men, both from different backgrounds and both completely opposite characters, in which Mann can convey his favourite themes of men in crisis and the male psyche.

If you long for the heady days of 1970's conspiracy thrillers or just want to see a great story well told with superb acting, The Insider is a must. Resurrect this film before Hollywood completely gives up on character driven thrillers!