The Insider

Before Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind, Russell Crowe gave a knock-out performance as a tobacco industry whistleblower. His mannerisms, the way he walked, his speaking voice were just fascinating to watch. He nailed this performance and I consider it to be the best work he has ever done. It certainly has more depth and intricacies than both of his follow-up films, but when a certain buzz is created around a film that also has a huge box office, that film usually gets most of the glory. Perhaps it hurt that The Insider was not a profit-maker – ‘only’ making $60 million, far short of its bloated budget of $90 million. Again, the screwy politics of Hollywood played a part in a critically acclaimed film’s disappointment come Academy Award time.

Al Pacino is given lead billing, but it is Crowe who leads and steers this film. Pacino is solid, as is Christopher Plummer. I also consider The Insider to be the beginning of a renaissance of the film career of Plummer. I think he has been woefully underused in film throughout his career. He is an amazing actor. Him being the oldest actor to win an Oscar is both a crime and a satisfaction. The Insider was really an actor’s film. This is what also happened to All the President’s Men. A factual story, well-presented on screen has a lot of juicy roles to fill. As a result, the actors who filled the roles portrayed the characters so well that their performances competed with the real-life story for attention. It is rare that this happens, but it happened again with The Insider.

This is the type of film that is made way too less of – intelligent, thought-provoking, intense, analytical, socially and morally fascinating.

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