The Insider [Blu-ray]

Director: Michael Mann Michael Mann

Overview

The Insider tells the true story of a man who decided to tell the world what the seven major tobacco companies knew (and concealed) about the dangers of their product. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) was a scientist employed in research for a tobacco firm, Brown and Williamson. Not long after he was fired by Brown and Williamson, Wigand came into contact with Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), a producer for 60 Minutes who worked closely with journalist Mike Wallace (played here by Christopher Plummer). Bergman arranged for Wigand to be interviewed by Wallace for a 60 Minutes expose on the cigarette industry, though Wigand was still bound by a confidentiality agreement not to discuss his employment with the company. Despite Wigand's willingness to talk, CBS pulled his interview from at the last minute after Brown and Williamson threatened a multi-billion dollar lawsuit. The staff of 60 Minutes and CBS News were soon embroiled in an internal struggle over the killing of the story, and Wigand found himself the subject of lawsuits and a smear campaign, without his full story reaching the public. The Insider was directed by Michael Mann and also features Diane Venora, Philip Baker Hall, Debi Mazar, Colm Feore, and Rip Torn.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/19/2013
UPC:	0786936827224
Original Release:	1999
Rating:	R
Source:	Touchstone / Disney
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:37:00
Sales rank:	1,188

Special Features

Production Featurette Audio Commentary with Al Pacino and Russell Crowe; Inside a Scene

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Al Pacino	Actor
Russell Crowe	Actor
Christopher Plummer	Actor
Diane Venora	Actor
Philip Baker Hall	Actor
Lindsay Crouse	Actor
Debi Mazar	Actor
Colm Feore	Actor
Stephen Tobolowsky	Actor
Gina Gershon	Actor
Michael Gambon	Actor
Bruce McGill	Actor
Rip Torn	Actor
Hallie Kate Eisenberg	Actor
Lynne Thigpen	Actor
Michael Paul Chan	Actor
Linda Hart	Actor
Robert Harper	Actor,Actor
Nestor Serrano	Actor
Pete Hamill	Actor
Wings Hauser	Actor
Cliff Curtis	Actor
Renee Olstead	Actor
Michael Moore	Michael Moore
Mike Moore	Actor
Gary Sandy	Actor
Willie C. Carpenter	Actor
Paul Butler	Actor
Jack Palladino	Actor
Megan Odabash	Actor
Robert Bart	Actor,Seelbach Hotel Manager
Alan DeSatti	Actor
Sayed Badreya	Actor
Chris Ufland	Actor
Doug McGrath	Actor,Private Investigator
Bill Sage	Actor
Joseph Hindy	Actor
Dennis Garber	Actor
Tim Grimm	Actor
Paul Perri	Actor
Wanda De Jesus	Actor
Robert Brink	Actor
V.J. Foster	Actor
Eyal Podell	Actor
Breckin Meyer	Actor
David Roberson	Actor
Gregg E. Muravchick	Actor
William P. Bradford II	Actor
David Carr	Actor
Ann Reskin	Actor
Claire Slemmer	Actor
Steve Salge	Actor
Derrick Jones	Actor
Donald F. Burbrink II	Actor
Vyto Ruginis	Actor
George R. Parsons	Actor
Pieter Bourke	Composer
Lisa Gerrard	Composer
Isodine Loury	Actor
Charlene Bosarge	Actor
Saemi Nakamura	Actor
Ronal G. Yokley	Actor
Bob Lazarus	Actor
Robert Ragno Jr.	Actor
Alvin L. Welch	Actor
Nathan Lewis Hill	Actor
Paula Bisbikos	Actor
Chirsti Evans	Actor
Knox Grantham White	Actor
Amy L. Caudill	Actor

Technical Credits

Michael Mann

Eric Roth

Michael Mann	Director,Screenwriter
Eric Roth	Screenwriter
Bonnie Timmerman	Casting
Pieter Jan Brugge	Producer
John Gray	Special Effects
Avi Kleinberger	Producer

Editorial Reviews

A riveting, controversial true story handled with tangible class and a documentary feel by director Michael Mann, this real-life drama was nominated for seven Academy awards. Juggling such monolithic issues as corporate responsibility, journalistic ethics, one's moral duty to the truth, and the politics of class, the film is a stew of sober intelligence and one of the best whistleblower dramas ever made. Al Pacino certainly calls upon some of his acting standards as the crusading news producer Lowell Bergman. But he also displays a new prickliness, a smug self-righteousness that balances out his heroism. Most astonishingly, in a time when stars want to portray characters of unmitigated courage, he doesn't back down from the narrative's assertion that he is crassly manipulative. That's a thoroughly unlikable quality flowing from the character's growing cynicism and self-interest, and while it may not be unrealistic, it is extraordinary to find that kind of veracity in a major, mainstream motion picture. Balancing him is Russell Crowe as the titular hero, pulling off a seemingly Robert De Niro-inspired physical, vocal, and behavioral transformation that fans of Crowe's award-winning turn in Gladiator (2000) will have to see to believe. Christopher Plummer earns high marks as Mike Wallace, but the film's greatest asset isn't its fine, notable performances. The Insider (1999), despite press reports attacking the film for its factual lapses, is actually about something important, providing a four-course meal of cinematic food for thought. Arguably Mann's best film to date, The Insider is worth its weight in gold, especially in an era of visceral moviemaking that encourages an audience to check its collective brain at the ticket counter.

All Movie Guide - Karl Williams