Considering the public's general antipathy towards journalists, the
profession has come off surprisingly well in the movies. For every
hard-bitten, manipulative hack - remember Kirk Douglas' heartless Charles
Tatum in The Big Carnival? - there are a couple of crusading Woodward and Bernsteins to set the record straight.
Michael Mann's The Insider follows the pattern of All The President's Men, tracing the efforts of a journalist as he tries to break a wall of silence and get the truth out to the public. As with that movie The Insider is based on a true story, although this time it's not government, but big business and the news media itself who want to keep silent about some unsavoury facts.
Russell Crowe is excellent as Dr Jeffrey Wigand, a research scientist for a
cigarette company who resigns when his employers fail to take note of a
report about the toxicity of smoking. Wigand is pestered by news producer
Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) to reveal the contents of the report on American
network CBS's 60 Minutes programme. This is no easy step for Wigand: not only will he lose his severance pay, he'll have to deal with some strong-arm tactics from the cigarette company.
After a crisis of conscience, Wigand does the interview, ruining his
marriage in the process. But corporate interests at CBS see the company's
legal department water down the interview to lessen its impact. An outraged
Bergman vows to defend the truth by making sure the original programme goes
out.
It's certainly nice to see Pacino playing it straight for a change. Ever
since his comeback with Sea Of Love, he has chosen roles that teeter on the edge of self-parody. For sure, Pacino's recent maxed-out performances have been enjoyable to watch, but The Insider necessitates a more honest performance, and forbids any defensive use of irony.
But there is still some ham in The Insider, and director Michael Mann is responsible for all of it. Mann tries to wring the same amount of drama from Pacino receiving a fax as he did from an Indian attack in Last Of The Mohicans, or a street-fight in Heat. Aided by an overstrung score, the director frequently tries to make big Hollywood moments from events as trivial as Pacino walking through a set of revolving doors.
Conspiracy theory movies in the 70s (such as The China Syndrome, All The President's Men, and The Parallax View) were very much symptoms of their time, and some American critics have claimed The Insider is dated. Post Watergate, post-Vietnam America was naturally suspicious of its leaders, both business and political, in a way that - say the critics - post Monicagate America doesn't need to be. The general feeling in an economically buoyant United States is that the information channels are open and Government and big business are well under control. Without wanting to sound paranoid, believe that and you'll believe anything.
Reviewed by Richard James Havis
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