The Insider (Touchtone, R)
Starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe
Rating:
Three and one-half stars - A worthy nominee for Best Picture, the insiders say.
Finally, Hollywood has figured out a new, yet satisfying way to find ideas for movies. Some of the most compelling stories do not spring from the minds of screenwriters, but rather the thrill-a-minute ride known as the real world.
"The Insider" explores a tale rife with compelling characters and a topic still in the papers today: the tobacco industry being taken to court to see just how responsible they are for what cigarettes can potentially cause. The movie would have had to try extremely hard to screw this story up, but in fact ended up making a classic, well-polished gem.
Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) is one of the main men behind the news portion of the television show "60 Minutes." His life is filled with potential stories, hundreds of interviews and little time to spend outside work.
In research for a potential story on fire safety and cigarettes, Bergman contacts Jeffery Wigand (Crowe), head of research and development at a major tobacco company. Wigand, though, just received notice of his termination for questioning some of the business's ethical choices.
Eventually, Wigand wants to tell the world his story on network television. Evidently, this particular company had been chemically altering the make-up of cigarettes to increase addiction levels. One major roadblock stands in his way: a little thing called a confidentiality agreement that would take away his severence pay and medical insurance if he happened to talk to the press about industry secrets.
Bergman figures out that there wouldn't be any secrets if Wigand happens to testify in court cases looking for compensation from tobacco companies for health damages. While it is never immediately shown, the viewer is encouraged to think this action causes the tobacco companies to use some rather naughty scare tactics to scare Wigand straight.
Just when everything seems to be steamrolling into a great "60 Minutes" exclusive, one bad mamma jamma of a road block rears its ugly head. The story, with an interview conducted by Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer), is fine, but a lawsuit against CBS could hold up the selling of the network to new owners. The execs put the kibosh on the story, much to everyone and their mothers' dismay.
As you can probably tell, this film is a rollercoaster of an emotional story. Just when all the blocks seem to fall in place, the big bully of the playroom comes in and promotes mass disorder. To use an accurate cliche, "You may pay for the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge of it."
Much of this has to be because of Crowe and Pacino. Most of their screen time is using cell phones or reacting to cell phone calls, but somehow they pull off roles that are complex and intoxicating.
A great plot thread includes the slow, saddening strain on Crowe's relationship with his family. To do what is right is itself not as simple as right and wrong. With so many people involved, "winners and losers" are on equal footing, all worse off for the cancerous corruption.
Also, everything seems to actually make sense. Nothing is just brought up for filler, despite the length of over two and one-half hours. My only complaint is that much of that time is used to lead up to the interview, but the corporate silencer is not treated with equal care. Maybe a rearrangement of a few plot points could have tightened the story, but the problem is not distracting.
"The Insider" actually assumes the role of cinematic muckraker to remind the country of a big deal that might have been channel-surfed over just a few years ago. It succeeds because it shows a slice of the world all too real, if we can suspend disbelief just a little to allow the great Al Pacino to work for CBS.
Many will leave the theater with a bad feeling in their stomachs - not from an overdose of Sour Patch Kids or the worst movie since "Chill Factor," but from viewing a magnificent portrayal of the combination of corrupt tobacco and corporate greed.
Originally published in the 11/11/99 edition of the Northern Star.
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