First of all, I would like to say that this is another movie that I just loved. Not as much as American Beauty, but I found it just as compelling and interesting. I became drawn up within this movie; drawn into the drama, awaiting each new development with excitement and anticipation. I always kept asking myself "Who's going to win" "How's it going to turn out"? I even asked myself this the second time I saw it, even though I knew the outcome. That is why I liked this movie: how many movies can you honestly say have compelled you to ask this question based on the power of the plotline and the strength of the actors!
THE PLOTLINE: To be honest, I usually have a beef with 'based on a true story' movies, but with this one I didn't. The story was a true story, although the credits say that it was embellished upon for dramatic appeal. So what? They did a good job.
Anyways, I digress. The movie circulates around two main characters: Lowell Bergman and Jeffrey Wigand. Lowell Bergman is an investigative journalist for 60 Minutes, and goes out and gets the stories for Mike Wallace. Jeffrey Wigand is a former employee of a big tobacco company, Brown and Williamson who was fired because he had ethical issues with cigarette production. Wigand is threatened and harassed by Brown and Williamson, so he approaches Bergman (originally through another reason - watch the movie to find this out) and tells him a bit of the story. Bergman eventually convinces Wigand to go on 60 minutes for an expose on big tobacco, and eventually to testify against them in court. What follows are almost two hours of minute-by-minute drama as the viewer bears witness to the pain, anguish and heartbreak that both Wigand and Bergman go through in order to expose big tobacco. Again, I will keep my synopsis short, because you can judge for yourself about the movie, and will not tell you how it ends.
As I said before, I feel that this movie is wonderful, because it has all the elements in it which makes a good movie. The acting is phenomenal, the plot (although it IS based on a real story) is excellent, and although the director at times deluges the viewer with legal mumbo-jumbo, and journalistspeak, the dialect is impressive. The first time I watched this movie, I came away very cynical and mad, because I believe fully that this kind of thing can and does happen in coporate (North) America. Money talks, and when faced with the threat of losing ones job, or money, people's ethics seem to disappear. The two main characters however have a rare sort of integrity that I respect and admire; I don't think most people would act like this were they placed in this situation.
Although I gave this movie 5 stars, I did have one major problem with this (and this will come up in a later Rant that I am writing). The wife of Jeffrey Wigand bothered me quite a bit. The reason for this is that I feel she was rather stupid, callous and greedy. She KNEW her husband was fired for his integrity, and that he was testifying to help his daughter and other people like her who are sick because of cigarette smoke, and therefore was a good person. And how does she respond? She files for divorce, and takes his kids and her away from him at the time he needs them the most. Yes I do realize that this did happen, but that doesnt' make it right. For God's sake, why do people have to be that selfish? Sure, there were death threats, but does that make her think for ONE second that divorcing her husband will stop them? If she's a babbling simp, maybe she'd believe that. Although it should be pointed out that hitman with half a brain would still go after the kids of the guy. They are still a target. This point does not really reflect on the movie in any way, because I realize that this did happen. It just pisses me off that some people are like that, and I had to rant about it. I'm done now
Anyways, that's my summary of The Insider. I think anyone who smokes should see it, because maybe it'll help them quit, knowing that tobacco companies place known carcinogens in their addictive product. If you dont' smoke, watch the movie for great drama, emotional involvement, and a cast which seem all too real (for in fact they are real). -K.R