"The Insider" (1999) Directed by Michael Mann

“This guy. He’s the ultimate insider”.

This, my second all time favourite Michael Mann film is an absolute joy, a film I never tire of re-watching and a film with Al Pacino on top notch form, and where Russell Crowe act’s his damn arse off! But more of that later.

Based on the Vanity Fair article The Man who knew too much by Marie Brenner and exquisitely shot by returning Director of Photography Dante Spinotti, this is a Michael Mann film and a director at his sublime best. With a tight screenplay also written by Mann and Eric Roth, it is Mann to the fore as a Director supreme, with literally every scene crafted to the nth degree. Unrushed at nearly three hours long, it’s a stylish, engaging, insightful and shocking piece of cinema, brilliantly acted by a stellar cast of Christopher Plummer, Philip Baker Hall, Stephen Tobolowsky and Michael Gambon to name but a few, and who bring real life characters to the big screen expertly, together with two leading men in thunderous, captivating form. Together with a superb original musical score from Pieter Bourke and Lisa Gerrard, you have a bona fide (if criminally overlooked) Michael Mann masterpiece.

From a frantically edited beginning through heavily guarded Hezbollah dominated streets we’re introduced to “Lowell Bergman” (Al Pacino) for the first time, blindfolded and awaiting his audience with a local Sheik. Cutting quickly to a vastly different scene whereby we meet “Jeffrey Wigand” (Russell Crowe) for the first time and we follow his exit from work and from a boisterous party he clearly wasn’t invited to. Interwoven throughout are family backgrounds to both, death threats and intense intimidation towards Jeffrey and the seemingly more serene, if pressured, working environment for Lowell.

#theinsider #michaelmann #alpacino #russellcrowe #vanityfair #masterpiece #cinema #moviereview #filmreview #film #reading #readalong #readaloud #amazonkindle #unlimited #writing #writingcommunity

The above opening paragraphs are taken from my original spoiler free review of "The Insider" penned and published over a decade ago, transferred to my Medium blog site on 29th January 2023 and which can now be read in full and for free via my Substack blog site and my original and updated article linked immediately below:

https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/the-insider-1999-b0efb09e5e34

This spoiler free review is also integral to my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection". Currently only available via e-book, each volume of exhaustive and numerous film reviews are priced at £4.99 however should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package you can read each and every volume for free:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4HZSTTH?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn

https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

Thanks for watching!

Please "like", subscribe, comment and consider supporting your favourite independent writer via the links above!

Thank you.