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Insider, The (1999) Rank 4 Reviews

Expert Review Summary
Movie critics combined give Insider, The (1999) a score of 3.3674 out of 4
based on (89) reviews
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Excellent
4
Excellent
(50)
Very Good
3
Very Good
(36)
Good
2
Good
(3)
Fair
1
Fair
(0)
Poor
0
Poor
(0)
Reviews by Score:
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
The Insider is a success at every level. It's a gripping drama, not to be missed. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Mann turns a moral issue into riveting suspense. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for The Reel McCoy (Patrick McCoy)The Reel McCoy (Patrick McCoy)
The Insider is definitely one of the best of the year and could very well spurn an Academy Award or two. But regardless of the Oscars, look for this movie to score big in my end-of-the-year awards which are coming at the (you guessed it!) end of the year. ...read the complete Insider movie review at The Reel McCoy (Patrick McCoy)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
At 2 hours and 40 minutes, it is a little long. Several shots of nothing more than someone riding in a car or hitting golf balls go on much longer than necessary. But aside from that, this is a satisfying, compelling film, destined to be compared ...read the complete Insider movie review at The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for AboutFilm.com (Dana Knowles)AboutFilm.com (Dana Knowles)
Though the surface issues at hand in <i>The Insider</i> aren't inherently shocking (Tobacco companies lie! Nicotine is addictive! Journalists are often compromised!), it is the subtext that provides the film with gravity. Wigand and Bergman are ...read the complete Insider movie review at AboutFilm.com (Dana Knowles)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
In tone, this film bears a striking resemblance to All The Presidents' Men. The newsroom arguments, the struggle between accurate news coverage and fiscal responsibilities, and the dogged determination of its lead character to get to the truth, are all ...read the complete Insider movie review at Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) is a60 Minutesproducer who specializes in finding ways to get sources to talk, whether it's about Middle East terrorism or the efforts of the tobacco industry to cover up the addictive nature of ...read the complete Insider movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
At one point in the film, Wigand is very depressed and under incredible pressure from the tobacco companies and is all alone. At that point I was very glad this was a true story. If it had been a work of fiction, particularly an art film, the character ...read the complete Insider movie review at Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
May be the best movie of the year. ...read the complete Insider movie review at New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
An intelligent look at a ponderous and worthwhile subject. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Netflix (James Rocchi)Netflix (James Rocchi)
Big tobacco, big media, big drama in director Michael Mann's masterpiece. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Netflix (James Rocchi)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
It's an engrossing human drama, posing a difficult moral question -- how much private contentment should a person be expected to sacrifice in the service of a greater good? ...read the complete Insider movie review at Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
Again, the facts may be distorted for dramatic purposes, but Mann does communicate a broad truth about media coverage and the conflicts it faces when put into conflict with commercial interests. The Insider also shows how much the ...read the complete Insider movie review at ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for ShowBIZ DataShowBIZ Data
A Buena Vista release of a Touchstone Pictures presentation of a Mann/Roth production of a Forward Pass picture; Produced by Michael Mann and Pieter Jan Brugge; Co-produced by Michael Waxman; Written by Eric Roth and Michael Mann; Based on the Vanity ...read the complete Insider movie review at ShowBIZ Data
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Reel.comReel.com
Some have scoffed at The Insider, saying it exaggerates corporate meddling in the media. With ABC's 20/20 pulling a Disney-unfriendly report and NBC News omitting a story critical of parent GE in recent years, I'd argue the contrary. But the viewer ...read the complete Insider movie review at Reel.com
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)
A marvelous ensemble cast and all the visceral impact and moment-to-moment tension of a fine thriller, together with the distinctive visual style of an art film. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Empire Magazine (Adam Smith)Empire Magazine (Adam Smith)
Pacino is at his finest. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Empire Magazine (Adam Smith)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Walter FrithWalter Frith
As the story unfolds, we see that Wigand signed a document of confidentiality, stating that he would never reveal to outside sources the details of his job. He eventually balks at this and feels that he has a greater responsibility to the public. His ...read the complete Insider movie review at Walter Frith
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Matinee Magazine (Chuck Rudolph)Matinee Magazine (Chuck Rudolph)
[Michael Mann is] the most agile, consistent, and powerful filmmaker in contemporary American film--in short, he's the best. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Matinee Magazine (Chuck Rudolph)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for Needcoffee.comNeedcoffee.com
Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe) has information that the tobacco companies don't want shared. Lowell Bergman (Pacino) is a 60 Minutes producer who runs across Wigand almost by accident when trying to get some scientific cigarette jargon translated into ...read the complete Insider movie review at Needcoffee.com
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.64 out of 4 stars for Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
It's a terrific movie -- intelligent, magnificently acted, highly compelling as a thriller, and downright scary in its implications for the corporate-run world of the new millennium. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for The New York Times (Janet Maslin)The New York Times (Janet Maslin)
Is still sleek, gripping entertainment with a raw-nerved, changeable camera style that helps to amplify its meaning. ...read the complete Insider movie review at The New York Times (Janet Maslin)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
A dead-on tale of corporate power, courage, cowardice and how we live. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)
Almost cagily creating understated drama from high-stakes reality. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Mr. Showbiz (Richard T. Jameson)Mr. Showbiz (Richard T. Jameson)
For two hours and 35 minutes it is absolutely riveting. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Mr. Showbiz (Richard T. Jameson)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Washington Post (Desson Thomson)Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
A well-orchestrated nightmare that keeps you on edge until the very end. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Time (Richard Corliss)Time (Richard Corliss)
The viewer almost has to be a journalist--or a good editor--to sniff out the meat under all the fat. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Time (Richard Corliss)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for LA Weekly (Manohla Dargis)LA Weekly (Manohla Dargis)
Has the glorious look and immaculate technique we expect from Mann, along with a wealth of superb secondary performances. ...read the complete Insider movie review at LA Weekly (Manohla Dargis)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Slate (David Edelstein)Slate (David Edelstein)
A big, overlong, and rather unwieldy piece of storytelling, but the story it has to tell is so vital that it cuts through all the dramaturgical muddiness. It's a terrific muckraking melodrama--it will get people fuming. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Slate (David Edelstein)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Power to absorb, entertain and anger. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
This is a first-class muckraking melodrama: an admirable picture. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
A big, bold movie that gets at undeniable truths about the way no one, no matter how powerful, is immune from manipulation. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for USA Today (Mike Clark)USA Today (Mike Clark)
At its best, hard-hitting grown-up cinema (rare these days) and a movie blessed with a villain (Big Tobacco) for which all gloves can be removed and heaved into the next county. ...read the complete Insider movie review at USA Today (Mike Clark)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Movies for GuysMovies for Guys
About the only complaint I have with the movie is that it suffers from a somewhat slow pace. At just over 2.5 hours, it drags in a couple of places where some prudent editing should have been done. If they had trimmed this down to 2 hours, it ...read the complete Insider movie review at Movies for Guys
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for DVD Talk (Chuck Arrington)DVD Talk (Chuck Arrington)
The Insider is an incredible piece of filmmaking that holds you solidly from start to finish. The fact that it's a true story is even more compelling. Pacino, Crowe & Plummer are at the very top of their game in this thriller & nothing slows the ...read the complete Insider movie review at DVD Talk (Chuck Arrington)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
In the quietest of ways, director Michael Mann (HEAT, LAST OF THE MOHICANS, MANHUNTER) has been putting together an impressive career of quality films. Even more impressive is the fact that he co-writes and produces his own material, and he is so successf ...read the complete Insider movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
Listen up! A movie adapted from a magazine article about the making of a four-year old segment of a television program: Does this pitch have you hooked yet? No? Well, despite a potentially dry-as-dust premise, The Insider manages to rise above its ...read the complete Insider movie review at filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie VoiceFilm Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
Where there's smoke, there's fire and in this taut look behind closed doors at 60 Minutes, there's a bonfire of acting timber. Russell Crowe plays a jittery tobacco industry insider who has scientific evidence that cigarettes are doctored to force ...read the complete Insider movie review at Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Movie Reviews UKMovie Reviews UK
C'mon, tell the truth now. There's something rotten going on at work, and you know about it. Maybe it's just a little thing, like the janitor taking home notepaper to practice writing English. But perhaps it's something horrible. What if they're putting ...read the complete Insider movie review at Movie Reviews UK
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)
THE INSIDER is a lot of movie for the money-two hours and thirtyeight minutes (phew!) of Big Tobacco, big-time journalism, gag orders, confidentiality agreements, the challenges of corporate news ownership, a doughy Russell Crowe bearing the weight of ...read the complete Insider movie review at Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for FilmtracksFilmtracks
As much as I'd like to, I can't give The Insider a five star rating due to the inclusion of the three dull tracks by Revell (did I mention, they were plopped in the middle of the album, making them almost impossible to ignore). The movie itself if ...read the complete Insider movie review at Filmtracks
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Bob BloomBob Bloom
Which parts? What should I believe and what should I consider as a screenwriter's fertile imagination?These questions gnaw at me as I reflect on "The Insider," a suspenseful drama about a tobacco executive who blew the whistle on the industry, revealing ...read the complete Insider movie review at Bob Bloom
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Steve RhodesSteve Rhodes
Brilliantly scripted by Eric Roth, based on a magazine article by Marie Brenner titled "The Man Who Knew Too Much," and containing a sterling supporting cast, the movie has only one possible flaw it's longer than normal at over two and a half hours. ...read the complete Insider movie review at Steve Rhodes
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Reel Movie Critic (George O. Singleton)Reel Movie Critic (George O. Singleton)
Switching back to the US, Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), is fired from his high six figure job at the Brown & Williamson tobacco company. Wigand is the Corporate VP of Research who objects to the continuing use of an additive, Coumarin, which ...read the complete Insider movie review at Reel Movie Critic (George O. Singleton)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Based on the May 1996 Vanity Fair article "The Man Who Knew Too Much" by Marie Brenner, "The Insider" follows the trials and tribulations of a former big tobacco executive who coughs up sobering ...read the complete Insider movie review at Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Gary JonesGary Jones
Al Pacino has in recent years tended to chew the scenery in histrionic fits, but here he turns in a more carefully controlled performance, perhaps his best since The Scent of a Woman. But it can't beat Russell Crowe's terrific performance as the ...read the complete Insider movie review at Gary Jones
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)
Sure, it bears the hallmarks of a Mann film. As usual, it's the story about men working through the greatest trials of their lives, making decisions that cut to the roots of professionalism and morality. Discarding the storyline, you could keep yourself ...read the complete Insider movie review at Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), a research scientist for a tobacco company, tells "60 Minutes" to reveal that the company is more aware of the addictive properties of nicotine than its executives claimed and in fact manipulated the delivery of nicotine. ...read the complete Insider movie review at The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for ReelViews (James Berardinelli)ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
It has been four years since the events depicted in Michael Mann's The Insider occurred. Actually, to be precise, it has been four years since some of them occurred. In the interests of drama, a certain amount of "fictionalization" has taken place. The in ...read the complete Insider movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Insider, The (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Michael Mann's "The Insider" makes a thriller and expose out of how big tobacco's long-running tissue of lies was finally exposed by investigative journalism. At its center stands Lowell Bergman, a producer for "60 Minutes," the CBS News program where a f ...read the complete Insider movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
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4.00
My Favorite '90's movie
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by randomrjs on July 17, 2009 Columbus, Ohio
Michael Mann's best film in my opinion. In "The Inside" he follows a whistle-blower in the tobacco industry and his tension-filled connection with a new producer as they take on and take down the whole industry. A couragous movie and ...
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Insider, The (1999) Reviews
Insider, The (1999)

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Ratings and rankings are based on number of movie, review scores, awards & other criteria.
Overall Rating:
3.4084
Insider, The (1999) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
Avg Critic Score:
3.3674
Insider, The (1999) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
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