The Insider

"Two men driven to tell the truth … whatever the cost."

1999 2h 38m EN

👍

7.5

SOLID

🔥

96%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.8

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 2,172🍅96%Rotten Tomatoes●85Metacritic★7.8IMDB · 191,269

DramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.

“Two men driven to tell the truth … whatever the cost.”

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Cast

Al Pacino
Lowell Bergman
Russell Crowe
Jeffrey Wigand
Christopher Plummer
Mike Wallace
Diane Venora
Liane Wigand
Philip Baker Hall
Don Hewitt
Lindsay Crouse
Sharon Tiller
Debi Mazar
Debbie De Luca
Stephen Tobolowsky
Eric Kluster

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michael Mann
Writers: Eric Roth, Michael Mann
Languages: Arabic, English, Japanese, Persian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 158 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $90M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 67% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Arabic, English, Japanese, Persian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

453+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michael Mann, shot by Dante Spinotti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lisa Gerrard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Mann directs. Dante Spinotti behind the camera. Lisa Gerrard scores. William Goldenberg cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Arabic, English, Japanese, Persian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 158 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Mid-budget at $90M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
3Earned back only 67% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
427 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
5Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Arabic, English, Japanese, Persian.
6453+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
7Directed by Michael Mann, shot by Dante Spinotti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Lisa Gerrard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor William Goldenberg shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Al Pacino and Russell Crowe and Christopher Plummer carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "Two men driven to tell the truth … whatever the cost.".
12IMDB entry: tt0140352 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Classified under 16 themes, including "newspaper", "research", "politics", "spy".
14Released under 17 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Dante Spinotti
Original score: Lisa Gerrard
Editing: William Goldenberg
Production design: Brian Morris
Costume design: Anna B. Sheppard
Makeup / hair: Esther Ben-Noon
VFX supervisor: Chris Watts
Sound: David Abrahamsen
Stunt coordinator: Joel Kramer
Runtime: 158 min · 2h 38m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $90,000,000
Box office: $60,300,000
Return: 67% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Insider (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 85/100
IMDB rating: 7.8/10 · 191,269 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Nominated for 7 Oscars. 23 wins & 58 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Michael Mann

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Eky2012-06-16
What if Michael Mann, Russell Crowe and Al Pacino ensemble in a film all together? Well, The Insider, with the above clever formula does exist and it is definitely an earthly paradise. Russell Crowe is a tobacco industry researcher named Jeffrey Wigand who accidentally revealed a addictive substance abuse in a famous tobacco company named Big Tobacco. He appeared in a CBS program “60 Minutes” based on an invitation by its presenter, Mike Wallace. His fate changed drastically, he had no choice but to sacrifice his reputation, job and family. In contrast to his heroic role in Gladiator, Crowe here plays excellently as a hero who tries to fight for his freedom as it is taken away when he has to deal with corporate criminals. Al Pacino performs well as usual in his role as an investigating journalist named Lowell Bergman. Mann attractively packed this 2,5 hour long crime drama with a variety of careful analysis so that this film is away from boring.
GenerationofSwine2023-01-14
★ 10/10
I was drooling when I saw the first preview. the talent involved in this...aaaaahhhhhhh. You just know it's going to be good. And Crowe, who thinks he's the best actor who ever lived actually acted in this. Seeing him actually act is worth it. Many of us believed it was only a legend, but here it is, proof he does have talent somewhere beneath the brass. Pacino, Mann, Plummer, Gabon and you turn around and low and behold Gershon is doing a good job too. It's like a dream cast with a B-Team that rises up to the challenge. I'd give it a 10 if...wait, I can 10 of 10 just because it is a privilege to watch everyone in this film...who cares about the plot even? It could have been the worst story ever written and the cast and director would have saved it. It was like they were doing Richard III. that quality of awesome.

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