No smoking without fire

The Insider In English at EGV, UA, UMG,
Siam Square, Cineplex and World Trade Centre

Director Michael Mann and actors Al Pacino and Russell Crowe combine their eclectic talents to make The Insider a powerful suspense drama, a film serious viewers can't afford to miss as the Oscar hopefuls queue up for local screening.

Superficially, the film shows how traditional investigative journalism exposes the shameless lies of greedy businessmen; but at its heart it tells the story of two men's struggle against the mighty forces of the capitalist establishment.

Pacino plays Lowell Bergman, a 60 Minutes producer who persuades Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe), a former executive of a giant tobacco company, to blow the whistle on his former employer's alleged malpractices concerning public health. Bergman finally convinces Wigand to talk, only to find out that his network, CBS, has decided to kill the controversial scoop for fear of ensuing legal troubles. This forces Bergman to go behind his bosses' backs in his crusade to pressure CBS into airing the interview; while Wigand, his sole ally, is left to face the devastating consequences of his disclosures.

More impressive, however, is the Australian-born Russell Crowe. He's perfect for the role of the man who knows too much. Wigand, gagged by the confidentiality agreement he signed with the company, is miserably weighed down by all the secrets he's not supposed to divulge; he speaks in a near whisper, eyes lowered, as if the most crucial parts of his speech get blocked in his throat.

Christopher Plummer plays another key character, Mike Wallace, a veteran correspondent of 60 Minutes and close friend to Bergman.

The Insider is based on the Vanity Fair article The Man Who Knew Too Much, and the film presents a fairly accurate report of this true account which finally led to the $246 billion lawsuits between 49 states and the US tobacco industry. But truth isn't what most concerns us: The movie is engaging, fact-packed, fast-paced, and, in a way, inspires us with mixed feelings of anger and surprise at how little we know about the ethical standpoints of these billionaires.

At the centre of the film are the performances of Pacino and Crowe. Bergman is a seasoned newsman who upholds the liberal ideology of a free press ("Are you a newsman or a businessman?," he barks at a CBS executive); and Pacino simply does what he always does best: slick, ranting, incisive, with a deadpan sense of humour. These are the kind of characters films tend to glamourise.

More impressive, however, is the Australian-born Russell Crowe. He's perfect for the role of the man who knows too much. Wigand, gagged by the confidentiality agreement he signed with the company, is miserably weighed down by all the secrets he's not supposed to divulge; he speaks in a near whisper, eyes lowered, as if the most crucial parts of his speech get blocked in his throat.

But despite all the complications, The Insider is simple to follow. Unlike other investigative hits, for example All The President's Men, which tells the story of how two Washington Post reporters uncovered the Watergate scandal, The Insider doesn't drown us in an ocean of information. The strategy is clear: This film focuses on the characters, not the process.

And, alas, that only makes me wish to see characters like Bergman and Wigand in this country — not the self-proclaimed heroes, but people who're at least interested in telling the truth about the cigarettes we smoke, the water we drink, the chickens we eat. If we're talking exposés, there are plenty of stories to expose in this complacent, mai pen rai Thailand.