Michael Mann directs this drama about Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), a tobacco executive who turned whistle blower. Al Pacino will play 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman, and Lindsay Crouse will play journalist Sharon Bergman. Diane Venora, Christopher Plummer, Rip Torn, Gina Gershon, Bruce McGill, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Hallie Kate Eisenberg also star. Eric Roth wrote the screenplay based on a Vanity Fair article. Previously titled Man of the People.
Capsule Review: For a drama with no real surprises, The Insider proves to be amazingly suspensful. Both Crowe and Pacino give standup performances, but it’s Christopher Plummer who steals his scenes as the journalist, Mike Wallace. The drama starts to creak a bit in it’s third hour, but never wears out its welcome.