A review by Brooks Rich
Let's talk about Michael Mann. He is a director who had several huge hits from the '80s to the end of the 2000s'. Films like Heat, Manhunter, Collateral, and today's film, The Insider, established Mann as a slick stylish director. Mann has a style all his own, sort of like Ridley Scott's visual style but a little darker and more of a Neo-noir style. Mann's career ended abruptly with controversy surrounding the death of several horses on the set of the HBO show Luck and then scathing reviews for his disaster techno thriller Blackhat. Mann has never recovered from these career disasters and it's likely we'll never see another film from him.
The Insider is in my opinion tied for Mann's best film with the crime masterpiece Heat. Both films are slick and stylish. The Insider is about a tobacco executive, played by Russell Crowe, who is let go for not playing ball with his company, who want to hide from the public how intentionally addicted they make cigarettes. He is convinced to come forward with this information by a reporter for CBS 60 Minutes, played by Al Pacino, who promises to keep him safe from any legal action. But CBS cracks under pressure and soon the story is being buried.
Mann's style elevates what would have been a pretty normal film about a corporate scandal and cover up. His frenetic editing brings chaos to the lives of the characters, elevating the stress and fear Crowe's character faces from legal and physical threats. Mann has this ability to make what we perceive to be the normal world feel threatening. The worlds his characters live in feel dirty and dangerous, such as in Heat and Collateral. The Insider is Mann's most grounded film but there is still this strange paranoia that envelops the final act of the film.
The Insider is one of the most best films about journalism and it doesn't get the credit it deserves for that. It is also one of the best films about paranoia. Mann's light had faded but this is a film worth revisiting.
Let's talk about Michael Mann. He is a director who had several huge hits from the '80s to the end of the 2000s'. Films like Heat, Manhunter, Collateral, and today's film, The Insider, established Mann as a slick stylish director. Mann has a style all his own, sort of like Ridley Scott's visual style but a little darker and more of a Neo-noir style. Mann's career ended abruptly with controversy surrounding the death of several horses on the set of the HBO show Luck and then scathing reviews for his disaster techno thriller Blackhat. Mann has never recovered from these career disasters and it's likely we'll never see another film from him.
The Insider is in my opinion tied for Mann's best film with the crime masterpiece Heat. Both films are slick and stylish. The Insider is about a tobacco executive, played by Russell Crowe, who is let go for not playing ball with his company, who want to hide from the public how intentionally addicted they make cigarettes. He is convinced to come forward with this information by a reporter for CBS 60 Minutes, played by Al Pacino, who promises to keep him safe from any legal action. But CBS cracks under pressure and soon the story is being buried.
Mann's style elevates what would have been a pretty normal film about a corporate scandal and cover up. His frenetic editing brings chaos to the lives of the characters, elevating the stress and fear Crowe's character faces from legal and physical threats. Mann has this ability to make what we perceive to be the normal world feel threatening. The worlds his characters live in feel dirty and dangerous, such as in Heat and Collateral. The Insider is Mann's most grounded film but there is still this strange paranoia that envelops the final act of the film.
The Insider is one of the most best films about journalism and it doesn't get the credit it deserves for that. It is also one of the best films about paranoia. Mann's light had faded but this is a film worth revisiting.
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