 | The Insider Starring: Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Dianne Venora, Philip Baker Hall, Sharon Hewitt |
It's curious that the two best American films I have seen this year are disturbing comments about life in America during the latter part of this millennium. "American Beauty" hit hard at the American family system, where things have become more important than relationships. Now, "The Insider" stabs deep into the American value system with a hard-hitting confrontation between ethics and economy. In this film, the battle is between the free press and the American tobacco corporations over the latter's attempt to guarantee increased and continuing sales by adding cancer-producing chemicals to cigarettes to make hard core addicts of all smokers. "The Insider" is also about one very ordinary man who, under extraordinary circumstances, has to make a decision to do the right thing regardless of the heavy consequences he will have to pay. His action will cost him his family and his reputation. There are few heroes in this world, but Dr. Jeffery Wigand is without question one of them. Tobacco companies are still trying to ruin him, for this, sadly, is a true story. "The Insider" got it ninety per cent accurate. Ten percent for poetic license is good enough for me. It's amazing that it was produced at all. This is a film of many layers and what it has to say is difficult to summarize. Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), segment producer for CBS television's "60 Minutes" is referred to Dr. Jeffery Wigand (Russell Crowe), chemist and high level ex-employee of America's third largest tobacco company, Brown and Williamson, for assistance in translating certain tobacco documents. (Wigand was officially fired for poor communication skills, but unofficially for objecting to the addition of the cancer producing substances.) Their first encounter is highly charged as the tightly wound Dr. Wigand almost unravels from tension. Bergman is too savvy a journalist not to realize that Wigand is fighting the need to reveal hidden secrets. Picking up quickly on what the good doctor doesn't say, he begins a series of confrontations between journalist and source. This struggle for trust and truth is brought to the screen with some of the most impressive montage I have seen in years. With great difficulty, Bergman builds a powerful exposé of alleged B&W deceit about tobacco dangers, with Wigand as his important on-camera source. He is the ultimate insider. Wigand finally agrees to do the interview with 60 Minute's Mike Wallace. There is a problem. Wigand signed a confidentiality agreement with B&W when leaving as part of his "buy out" package. CBS (the corporation) fears that a threatened lawsuit by Brown and Williamson would hurt the pending sale of CBS to Westinghouse. A CBS lawyer strong-arms the CBS news department into killing the interview and runs a weak substitute, anti-tobacco story that doesn't even mention Wigand's name. Much to Bergman's surprise, "60 Minutes" Executive Producer, Don Hewitt, and Mike Wallace side with the corporation. This leaves Wigand hanging by a very thin thread. In order to do the interview he had to go on public record, with a legal deposition, as a witness in a tobacco case for the state of Mississippi. Not only was this action legally risky but it alerted B&W as to the specifics of what Wigand was going to reveal on the 60-Minute interview. Facing divorce, loss of severance pay, harassment from B&W, alleged death threats, and perhaps even jail, the betrayed man almost falls apart when he hears that CBS has killed the interview. The enraged Bergman gets the story to the Wall Street Journal and finally forces CBS to air the Wigand interview on "60 Minutes" to over thirty million people. Eventually, Wigand played an important factor in an unprecedented $246 billion-dollar lawsuit against the tobacco industry. Bergman left CBS and is now producing for PBS documentary series, Frontline. Wigand is currently a successful high school chemistry teacher. CBS is still licking its wounds from this incident and is still recovering from its journalistic "sell out." As Bergman tells Wallace when he resigns, "The things that were broken here can't be put back together." The ghost of Edward R. Murrow has most assuredly left the hallowed hallways of CBS and is probably still looking for a credible news network. This was not an easy story to tell. Michael Mann ("Heat," "Thief," "Last of the Mohicans" and TV's "Miami Vice") directed "The Insider" with skill, intensity, and great focus that keeps the viewer on edge throughout the film. Mann and co-writer Eric Roth created a flawless screenplay while managing to avoid the legal pitfalls, twists and turns of this story. Al Pacino plays the role of Lowell Bergman without his usual "emoting" and makes the character come alive by downplaying the dynamic journalist. One is reminded here of Pacino's earlier work. Australian actor Russell Crowe stands toe to toe with Pacino and has an uncanny ability to not only look like the uptight Dr. Wigand but to completely disappear inside of this complex man. Crowe manages to capture his fragile hesitancy, underlying fury, and convey the dark edges deep within. It's a truly brilliant performance. All actors including those in the smallest roles contribute to the impressive quality of the film: Christopher Plummer as the somewhat ego driven Mike Wallace, Michael Gambon as CEO of B&W, Gina Gershon as the CBS attorney, and Bruce McGill as the Mississippi attorney, who, for 30 seconds, blows the screen to shreds. The fine musical score of Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke actually becomes another character within the film, something of a narrator with perfect accents at crucial moments. The tinkling sound of an Argentine mandolin in the background, while Wigand wrestles with his conscience over the decision that will change his life forever, is one of the most powerful scenes in the film. Crisp photography by Dante Spinotte (LA Confidential) and superb editing add the perfect touch to this incredible film. "The Insider" is a bit overwhelming to grasp in one viewing. It has many things to say and says them well. One leaves the theater impressed by the brave nobility of Wigand. He evokes a glimmer of hope for mankind as we face the increasingly difficult and complex world of the next millennium. On a recent interview Wigand said, "It's so very difficult to get the truth out. It still is." This film succeeds in telling that story very well. |