‘The Insider’ At 25: Corporate America Vs. The Truth
On Michael Mann’s 1999 drama about whistleblowing, a reporter’s duty to his source, and the news media business
One of the few films to truly capture the struggle and trauma that a whistleblower experiences is Michael Mann’s “The Insider.” It also is a painstaking examination of the news media business, with more in common with “Network” than “All The President’s Men” — both released in 1976.
Based upon a Vanity Fair feature by journalist Marie Brenner published in May 1996, The Insider was released in the United States on November 5, 1999. The film told the story of a tobacco company whistleblower named Jeffrey Wigand, “60 Minutes” producer Lowell Bergman, and the corporate suppression that they faced as CBS executives refused to air a bombshell interview with Wigand.
It was nominated for seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound, and the film stars Al Pacino as Bergman and Russell Crowe as Wigand.
The supporting cast included Christopher Plummer as renowned journalist Mike Wallace, Philip Baker Hall as Don Hewitt, a CBS executive who created “60 Minutes,” Diane Venora as Jeffrey’s wife Liane…
