THE INSIDER BY MICHAEL MANN (1999)

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Michael Kenneth Mann is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. For his work, he has received nominations from international organizations and juries, including those at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Cannes and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He has produced the Academy Awards ceremony twice, first in 1999 with the 72nd annual Academy Awards and second in 2004 with the 77th annual ceremony.

Total Film ranked Mann #28 on their 100 The Greatest Directors Ever and Sight and Sound ranked him #5 on their list of the 10 Best Directors of the Last 25 Years, Entertainment Weekly ranked Mann #8 on their 25 Greatest Active Film Directors list.

• Courtesy - http://Michael_Mann

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THE INSIDER

The Insider is a 1999 film that tells the true story of a 60 Minutes television series segment, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand. The 60 Minutes story originally aired in November 1995 in an altered form because CBS’ then-owner, Laurence Tisch, objected. The story was later aired on February 4, 1996.

The film stars Al Pacino (Lowell Bergman), Russell Crowe (Jeffrey Wigand), Christopher Plummer (Mike Wallace), Bruce McGill (attorney Ron Motley), Diane Venora, Michael Gambon, Philip Baker Hall (Don Hewitt), Lindsay Crouse, Gina Gershon, Debi Mazar, and Colm Feore.

The movie was adapted by Eric Roth and Michael Mann from the Vanity Fair magazine article "The Man Who Knew Too Much" by Marie Brenner. It was directed by Mann.

It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Russell Crowe), Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.

CAST

Al Pacino as Lowell Bergman
Russell Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand
Renee Olstead as Deborah Wigand
Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace
Diane Venora as Liane Wigand
Philip Baker Hall as Don Hewitt
Lindsay Crouse as Sharon Tiller
Debi Mazar as Debbie De Luca
Stephen Tobolowsky as Eric Kluster
Colm Feore as Richard Scruggs
Bruce McGill as Ron Motley
Gina Gershon as Helen Caperelli
Michael Gambon as Thomas Sandefur
Roger Bart as Seelbach Hotel Manager
Jack Palladino as Himself

PLOT

In Lebanon, Hezbollah militants escort producer Lowell Bergman (Pacino) to Hezbollah founder Sheikh Fadlallah. Lowell convinces him to be interviewed by Mike Wallace (Plummer) for CBS show 60 Minutes.

In Louisville, Kentucky, Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe) packs his belongings and leaves his Brown & Williamson office, returning home to his wife Liane (Venora) and two children, one of whom suffers from acute asthma. When Liane asks about the boxes in Wigand’s car, he reveals that he was fired from his job that morning.

Upon returning home to Berkeley, California, Bergman receives an anonymous package containing documents relating to tobacco company Philip Morris, and approaches a friend at the Food and Drug Administration for the name of someone who can put the information in layman’s terms. Bergman is referred to Wigand, and calls him at his home, only to be steadfastly rebuffed. Curious with Wigand’s refusal to even speak to him, Bergman eventually convinces him to meet at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville.

In the privacy of the hotel room, Wigand agrees to interpret and explain the scientific tobacco-related documents, but stresses that he cannot talk about anything else because of his confidentiality agreement. After leaving with the documents, Wigand appears at a meeting with Brown & Williamson CEO Thomas Sandefur (Gambon), who orders him to sign an expanded confidentiality agreement, under threat of revoking his severance pay and medical coverage and initiating legal proceedings. Wigand, enraged at the threats and believing that Bergman notified Sandefur about their confidential meeting, calls and accuses Bergman of treachery.

Bergman visits Wigand’s house the next day and maintains that he did not reveal anything to Brown & Williamson. Reassured, Wigand talks to Bergman about the seven CEOs of "Big Tobacco" perjuring themselves to the United States Congress about their awareness of nicotine’s addictiveness, and that the CEOs should fear Wigand. Bergman says Wigand has to decide for himself whether to blow the whistle on big tobacco...

• Read more on http://The_Insider

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