The Insider is a 1999 film directed by Michael Mann based on the true story of a 60 Minutes segment about tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand. The 60 Minutes story originally aired in November 1995 in an altered form because of objections by CBS' then-owner, Laurence Tisch, who also controlled the Lorillard Tobacco Company. The story was later aired on February 4, 1996. The script was adapted by Eric Roth and Mann from Marie Brenner's Vanity Fair article"The Man Who Knew Too Much".

 

The film stars Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, with Christopher Plummer, Bruce McGill, Diane Venora, Michael Gambon, Philip Baker Hall, Lindsay Crouse, Gina Gershon, Debi Mazar, and Colm Feore in supporting roles.

 

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 released in 1809 theaters on November 5, 1999 where it grossed a total of$6,712,361 on its opening weekend and ranked fourth in the country for that time period. It went on to make$29.1 million in North America and $31.2 million in the rest of the world for a total of $60.3 million worldwide, significantly lower than its $90 million budget.

 

Despite the disappointing box office reception, The Insider received near-unanimous critical praise, garnering some of the best reviews of 1999 and of Michael Mann's career. It holds a 96% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 127 reviews and an 84 metascore on Metacritic. Roger Ebert of the Chicago SunTimes gave the film three and half out of four stars and praised "its power to absorb, entertain, and anger". Newsweek magazine's David Ansen wrote, "Mann could probably make a movie about needlepoint riveting. Employing a big canvas, a huge cast of superb character actors and his always exquisite eye for composition, he's made the kind of current-events epic that Hollywood has largely abandoned to TV—and shows us how movies can do it better".

 

In 2000, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Crowe, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Sound (Andy Nelson, Doug Hemphill and Lee Orloff).