THE INSIDER  Reviewed by Harvey Karten  Touchstone Pictures  Director: Michael Mann  Writer: Eric Roth, Michael Mann, Marie Brenner (article)  Cast: Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Diane Venora, Philip Baker Hall, Lindsay Crouse, Debi Mazar, Stephen Tobolowsky, Colm Feore, Bruce McGill, Gina Gershon, Michael Gambon, Rip Torn   You don't have to see Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh to perceive that no one is more fanatical than a fellow who has just vanquished a bad habit.  Find a person who has just given up smoking or alcohol or adultery or a life of crime and you have located a guy who will relentlessly climb the world's soapboxes to insist that you too can become as pristine as a newborn pup. Marie Brenner's investigative article in a Vanity Fair magazine article en_title_d The Man Who Knew Too Much portrays such a man, Jeffrey Wigand, an ex-smoker who was a top executive with the tobacco firm of B&W until he had an epiphany.  Tobacco is not a nice product, he realized some years after the rest of us knew this, and what's more the executives that make their living from selling this foul substance have noses longer than Pinocchio's.  At a congressional hearing one day, all seven CEO's of the big tobacco corporations stated under oath that- -get this

http://www.speakers-podium.com/susangranger. Susan Granger's review of THE INSIDER (Touchstone)         Michael Mann's compelling story, adapted by Mann and Eric Roth from Marie Brenner's 1996 Vanity Fair article, The Man Who Knew Too Much, examines the behind-the-scenes drama and maneuverings that led to the media's exposure of tobacco industry fraud. Whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand, former head of research and development at Brown & Williamson, was a corporate officer, the ultimate insider on the skullduggery involved in the business of selling tobacco. His firing comes to the attention of Mike Wallace's producer, Lowell Bergman, who convinces the reluctant scientist to spill the beans on 60 Minutes, only to have the interview killed by CBS's corporate lawyer who cites a confidentiality agreement the executive signed with the tobacco company. Three months later, after the Wall Street Journal printed Wigand's allegations, 60 Minutes aired the segment. So much for fiasco. It's the Oscar-caliber performances that command attention, primarily the emotional relationship between Russell Crowe, as the conflicted Wigand, and Al Pacino, as the tenacious Bergman. A journalist hasn't shown this much righteous indignation since All the President's Men. Christopher Plummer deserves a Best Supporting Actor nod as Wallace, who with Philip Baker Hall, as producer Don Hewitt, come across as cowards, bowing to management on ethics, leaving their source, Wigand, hanging in the wind. The medieval and Middle Eastern music by Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke enhances Dante Spinotti's dark, eerie imagery. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, The Insider is a tense, trenchantly topical 10.  Subsequent to the shocking events dramatized in the film, the tobacco industry settled the lawsuits filed against it by Mississippi and 49 other states for $246 billion.

THE INSIDER (Touchstone) Starring:  Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Philip Baker Hall, Diane Venora. Screenplay:  Eric Roth and Michael Mann, _base_d on the article The Man Who Knew Too Much by Marie Brenner. Producers:  Michael Mann and Pieter Jan Brugge. Director:  Michael Mann. MPAA Rating:  R (profanity, adult themes) Running Time:  155 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.      As a storyteller, Michael Mann was born at least 200 years too late. In another place and time, he would have crafted operas

Cranky Critic ® movie reviews: The Insider Rated  [R], 155 minutes Starring Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Philip Baker Hall Screenplay by Eric Roth & Michael Mann _base_d on the Vanity Fair article The Man Who Knew Too Much by Marie Brenner Directed by Michael Mann website: www.theinsider.com IN SHORT: Almost compelling. But you know what they say about almost... Slow and deliberate pacing is all well and good for the first hour of an end of the year flick, but when the fireworks at the core of the story finally hit, it would be very nice if they sustained themselves for a bit. It would be even nicer if they weren't backed up by a soundtrack vocal that sounds like the wail of a peasant woman being tortured. But they don't and they are and good is not good enough in Oscar season. Michael Mann's The Insider dramatizes the story of a botched 60 Minutes report on the addictive properties of cigarettes. Botch may be the wrong word; It wasn't factually inaccurate story

THE INSIDER RATING: 6.5 /10

Coughing up the Truth The Insider By Ross Anthony _base_d on the May 1996 Vanity Fair article The Man Who Knew Too Much by Marie Brenner, The Insider follows the trials and tribulations of a former big tobacco executive who coughs up sobering truths concerning cigarette addiction. Mann's _script_ remains boldly true to the article, right down to naming names (CBS, Wallace, B&W, etc.); Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore even plays himself, I saw it as a chance to have some fun and be a part of history again. (Quote from production notes.) Russell Crowe, almost completely unrecognizable from his long-haired, hockey-playing, mountain man look in Mystery, Alaska, works out the nervous cricks in his neck as the middle-aged, whistle-blowing, former VP of B&M (Kools, Viceroy). Managing the difficult role of an intelligent, imperfectly sincere, tough, slowly crumbling pillar, Crowe displays appropriately tamed flare and rugged modesty. Pacino plays Lowell Bergman, producer of 60 minutes and Wallace's right hand guy. It's Lowell that erects the soap box/guillotine for Dr. Wigand's big bean spillage. Willing to loose it all (family, reputation, even freedom), Dr. Wigand refuses to be squelched by Tobacco's less than subtle intimidation tactics (including but not limited to death threats). In fact, the movie plays a bit like a horror flick at times ... Is the house safe for the family? Will one of the kids be snatched away? Will an un-snuffed cigar butt start the place on fire? Wigand weighs the risks: personal welfare vs. right vs. stubborn horse pride, I can't seem to find the criteria to decide. Eventually, Lowell's proximity and passion to this truth-teller leaves him feeling the stinging singes of hot coals as well. Pacino's performance, as in other films, is flawless. He's strong, passionate and completely driven. Interestingly enough, I don't recall a single lit cigarette or pipe in the entire picture, not even from a passer-by; perhaps making the film's only flaw (if you wish to call it that) a wisping tendency toward the preachy. Nonetheless, The Insider delivers good entertaining drama. After it's two hour and thirty-seven minute duration, you'll still be left wanting more. The Insider. Copyright © 1999. Rated R. Starring Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer and Diane Venora. Directed by Michael Mann. Screenplay by Eric Roth and Michael Mann. Produced by Michael Mann & Pieter Jan Brugge at Touchstone. Grade..........................A