As a piece of entertainment, it works amazingly well -- the story never drags and it seems to get a little more interesting with every scene.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 27, 2023

In a century of obscene compromise, The Insider stands as a titanic moral enterprise... through image and sound and reserved yet deliquescent performance, captures men's wills. It's Heat, hushed.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Sep 11, 2021

Pacino and Crowe, powerful performers in their own, singular right, make for an extremely dynamic duo in this absolutely riveting, intricately plotted true account of a jaw-dropper case from a few years back.

| Sep 3, 2020

Michael Mann's least physically violent film feels no less ferocious -especially given the appetites with which corporations gobble up media today. Holding off barbarians at the gate is only noble until you must sell them the gate to fund the fight.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jun 24, 2019

Superbly shot and edited and boasting impeccable recreations of the 60 Minutes broadcast in which Wigand went public, The Insider matches Heat's intensity while raising the stakes.

| Mar 26, 2019

Powerfully and elegantly, The Insider reveals a chilling reality: how hard it is to tell a simple truth when big business doesn't want it told.

| Mar 6, 2018

... the movie goes on a nail biting tear...

| Original Score: A- | Sep 12, 2017

Fascinating whistleblower story for older teens.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 28, 2010

A supremely suspenseful and riveting dramatic tour-de-force.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Nov 29, 2009

Not a single shot could be improved in either lighting or framing; nor is there even a single cut that could be moved by so much as a frame without damaging the exactitude of its placement.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Jun 24, 2009

A sobering examination of corruption, courage, cowardice, and the sometimes catastrophic costs of telling the truth.

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 29, 2008

Despite having no action scenes, a 2.5 hour running time, and based around the tired subject of tobacco, The Insider manages to be one of -- if not the best thriller of the year.

Full Review | Jan 15, 2008

It has a buzz of excitement and complexity -- the sense that we're seeing the actual back-room decisions that affect lives.

| Original Score: A | Sep 24, 2007

The ingredients--topical subject, great acting from Crowe and Plummer, Mann's brillaint helming--are here for a truly great film and yet something is missing, perhaps a sense of deja vu of case well covered in the press, or an aura of pompous seriousness.

| Original Score: A- | Sep 20, 2007

What I didn't expect was an intelligently absorbing entertainment that ran for two hours and 40 minutes, during which I didn't once look at my watch -- just about the highest praise I can bestow upon a film these days.

| Apr 27, 2007

The Insider is an engaging, beautifully-paced drama that leaves most others like it looking silly and amateurish.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 26, 2006

The movie reveals Michael Mann's unparalleled ability to fashion taut suspense from unpromising material.

| Feb 9, 2006

Director Michl Mann makes the mundane exciting -- even though we all know the outcome -- with his trademark blue/dark back lighting, hyper-kinetic editing and a haunting techno score.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2005

A compelling, tautly depicted tale of corporate power and individual integrity. Director Mann may well have an Oscar contender here.

| Original Score: A- | Apr 9, 2005

This is a war movie. The big strikes are lawsuits. The battlefield is the conscience. And the heroes put themselves on the front lines for the sake of the truth.

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Jan 15, 2005