The Insider is about a normal soul facing abnormal corruption

 

The end of Terrence Malick's 2019 classic A Hidden Life features on-screen text reciting a George Eliot quote about how "the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts." The people who aren't household names are typically the ones responsible for ensuring that some sense of morality endures in a warped world. In The Insider, we meet one of those people. Sure, he's not as concealed from the public as the protagonist of A Hidden Life or the figures Eliot is referring to. However, whistleblower Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) is very much a person whose name may not be on the tip of your tongue but whose very refusal to stand down in the face of oppression helped foster the  "growing good of the world."

Wigand didn't use to be a societal pariah. In fact, he was previously an executive at the Brown & Williamson tobacco company. However, his recent firing, stemming from Wigand refusing to go along with dangerous practices, has totally reoriented this man's world. He can't be silent anymore, even if his company has made Wigand sign an NDA. 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) sees a story here and urges Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) to interview Wigand so that the actions of companies like Brown & Williamson can be exposed. However, every step of the way, there are new challenges, as Wigand's life crumbles around him while CBS executives intervene to prevent Wigand's interview from ever being seen by the public.

Early on in The Insider, Bergman asks Wigand why he even went to work for a tobacco company in the first place. This film takes place in the mid-1990s, the concept of cigarettes being dangerous for human health isn't a fresh notion. Wigand realizes that and acknowledges that he's also complicit in this matter. The Insider is all about people like that, individuals just going about their everyday lives until they realize the system they nonchalantly defend doesn't actually care for them. Hell, Wigand notes in an early confrontation with CEO Thomas Sandefur (Michael Gambon) that he wasn't planning to violate his NDA until the Brown & Williamson people began pushing on him.

Sometimes it takes those extreme pushes to make people realize institutional forces won't give you an inch no matter how much you compromise them. Another great instance of this comes later in the film when Wallace, after kowtowing to orders to drop the Wigand segment, brags to Bergman about how he conducted an interview for a CBS news program where he really stuck it to those stuffy executives. Upon actually seeing the interview aired, Wallace is aghast to discover his chastizing has been reduced to a solitary "No." By compromising on his principles and throwing Wigand to the sharks, he hasn't opened the door for CBS to allow him to express his mind. On the contrary, Wallace has been reminded that he's only given powerful forces even more of an excuse to run over him.

Emphasizing the cold detached nature of institutional forces like this, as well as the complexities of everyday people responding to their presence, makes The Insider such a fascinating and gripping thriller. In many ways, it feels like a compelling spiritual successor to fellow Pacino movie Serpico. Both deliver such great work showing one everyman refusing to back down from calling out powerful corruption while rendering all the obstacles he faces with such chilling authenticity. Another common thread between the two titles? They remain disappointingly relevant decades after their release. In the face of union-hating companies like Amazon or anti-vaxxer networks like Fox News, we need people willing to stick to the truth and challenge intimidating corporations like Wigand more than ever! 

Michael Mann is the perfect choice to direct a movie like The Insider. He's got such extensive experience with crime dramas, why wouldn't his skills translate so smoothly to a depiction of high-level criminal activity among CEOs? Even better, his work on films like Manhunter shows that he's got a gift for incorporating thoughtful visual flourishes into the most grounded conversation-based sequences. That skillset is put to great use here, with even nonchalant phone chats between characters getting executed through thoughtful camerawork as well as a quiet but unnerving sense of unseen danger.  Mann is just the, well, man to handle a project like this one! 

Similarly, well-suited for the proceedings is the cast, particularly Al Pacino. Yes, the actor turned into a bit of a caricature in some of his roles in the 1990s, like his villain turn in Dick Tracy. But a movie like The Insider proves Pacino never lost his touch. He's always compelling when he's on-screen and Pacino's flair for pronounced line deliveries is perfectly suited for a character always 110% confident at his anger at the corruption happening around him. Russell Crowe, in his last role before Gladiator would totally upend his career, also proves to be terrific here. I especially liked his little touches when his portraying Wigand as an attentive father like him calmly explaining to his daughter why she's having trouble breathing during an asthma attack. It's just something that feels so true to how a dad would behave and also suggests the person Wigand is when he isn't a whistleblower.

Dr. Jeffrey Wigand isn't a superhuman nor is he a perfect person. The Insider makes no pretenses towards either idea and that's why the movie works as well as it does. Michael Mann's 1999 feature is a fantastically crafted ode to the ordinary souls who stand up against what's wrong.