The Insider (1999)

A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.

Director:

Michael Mann

Writers:

Marie Brenner (article), Eric Roth

Stars:

Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer

Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 51 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Al Pacino	...	Lowell Bergman
Russell Crowe	...	Jeffrey Wigand
Christopher Plummer	...	Mike Wallace
Diane Venora	...	Liane Wigand
Philip Baker Hall	...	Don Hewitt
Lindsay Crouse	...	Sharon Tiller
Debi Mazar	...	Debbie De Luca
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Eric Kluster
Colm Feore	...	Richard Scruggs
Bruce McGill	...	Ron Motley
Gina Gershon	...	Helen Caperelli
Michael Gambon	...	Thomas Sandefur
Rip Torn	...	John Scanlon
Lynne Thigpen	...	Mrs. Williams
Hallie Eisenberg	...	Barbara Wigand

Storyline

Balls-out 60 Minutes (1968) Producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) sniffs a story when a former research biologist for Brown & Williamson, Jeff Wigand (Russell Crowe), won't talk to him. When the company leans hard on Wigand to honor a confidentiality agreement, he gets his back up. Trusting Bergman, and despite a crumbling marriage, he goes on camera for a Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) interview and risks arrest for contempt of court. Westinghouse is negotiating to buy CBS, so CBS attorneys advise CBS News to shelve the interview and avoid a lawsuit. 60 Minutes (1968) and CBS News bosses cave, Wigand is hung out to dry, Bergman is compromised, and the CEOs of Big Tobacco may get away with perjury. Will the truth come out?

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Plot Keywords:

whistleblower | tortuous interference | 1990s | tobacco | cbs news | 

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Taglines:

Two men driven to tell the truth... whatever the cost.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

After reading an early draft of The Good Shepherd (2006), Michael Mann approached Eric Roth to help write the script.

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Goofs

When Bergman first calls Scruggs (as he's flying his Lear jet), Scruggs calls in to air traffic control saying he's "Lear November 643", yet the external shot of the jet shows the registration number to be N[ovember] 6100". Then shortly after returning Bergman's call Scruggs walks out to the runway and the jet now has a registration number of "N550M".

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Quotes

Mike Wallace: You heard Mr. Sandefur say before Congress that he believed nicotine was not addictive.
Jeffrey Wigand: I believe Mr. Sandefur perjured himself because I watched those testimonies very carefully.
Mike Wallace: All of us did, and it was this whole line of people, whole line of CEOs up there, all swearing.
Jeffrey Wigand: Part of the reason I'm here is that I felt that their representations clearly misstated - at least within Brown and Williamson's representation - clearly misstated what is common language within the company: "We are in the ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The TV version is actually longer than the theatrical version and was extended over two nights. The edit was supervised by director Michael Mann.

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Connections

Referenced in Cold Case: Breaking News (2009)

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Soundtracks

Sacrifice
Written and Performed by Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke
Courtesy of 4 AD Limited/Warner Bros. Records Inc.

User Reviews

A Great Movie, Very Underrated, Due To Poor Marketing

Russell Crowe at his best as a Kentucky tobacco executive in Eric Roth and Michael Mann's masterpiece, "The Insider," is one of the most underrated American films ever. Not only is it important historically for its political implications - not about tobacco, but about conflicts of commercial interest that control freedom of speech along the airwaves in the U.S.- it is a great story and it is true. Disney had no idea how to market "The Insider" and essentially sold it as tobacco movie and it is so much more. Pacino gives a grand A plus performance as a Long Island Jewish producer and halfway through the movie I forgot he was Al Pacino. Even better Christopher Plummer masterfully captures the full essence of Mike Wallace. Gina Gershon could turn lust from a stone as always. Michael Mann seems to always pull strong performances from his actors, and Eric Roth who brilliantly adapted "Forrest Gump" did the same here with Mann. Though long, "The Insider" is never boring and a movie all Americans should see twice to make sure they fully comprehend regardless of how you feel about the tobacco debate.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese Arabic Persian

Release Date:

5 November 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

60 Minutes

Filming Locations:

Long Beach Polytechnic High School - 1600 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,712,361, 7 November 1999

Gross USA:

$29,089,912

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$60,289,912

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Forward Pass, Blue Lion Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1