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Volume 1 (1999/2000)
Issue
1 (March 1999)
Issue
2 (Nov. 1999)
Issue 3 (Dec. 1999)
Issue 4 (Feb. 2000)
Issue 5 (March 2000)
Issue 6 (April 2000)
Issue
7 (May 2000)
Volume 2 (2000/2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2000)
Issue 2 (Oct. 2000)
Issue 3 (Jan. 2001)
Issue 4 (March 2001)
Issue 5 (April 2001)
Issue 6 (May 2001)
Volume 3 (2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2001)
Issue 2 (Nov. 2001)
Categories
Sport: 1
2 3
Lifestyles: 1 2
3
Commentary: 1 2
3
Review: 1 2
3
Writing: 1 2
3
Event: 1 2
3
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Colm McGlinchey
St. David's, Artane
When I stepped into the cinema to watch Michael Mann's The
Insider, I also stepped into the shoes of the movies two central characters.
For two hours and thirty-five minutes I felt their frustration and anger.
I felt involved in a story of corporate greed in America and I could relate
to a story that should have been alien to me. Cinema this powerful is
rare and should be savoured.
It tells the true story of two men, Jeffrey Wigand (Russell
Crowe) and Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) and their struggle with corporate
America. Wigand has just been fired from his job at a cigarette company
for knowing too much. Bergman is a news magazine television show producer.
He tries to lure Wigand into an interview. The cigarette companies have
been deliberately making cigarettes more addictive and Wigand knows this.
The first half of the film shows Wigand's struggle with his conscience
while unknown forces threaten him and his family. The second half shows
Bergman's frustration at not being able to get the interview on TV as
the networks fear a hefty lawsuit. The Insider is an incredibly confident
film. We are delivered information bit by bit, instead of being confused
by it all at once. It is a combination of a great script, great performances,
great direction, and a great production.
Michael Mann who wrote and directed Heat, co-writes and
directs The Insider. He does a great job. The camerawork is excellent,
sometimes viewing the world through Wigands glasses thereby enhancing
his feeling of not fitting in with the corporation. Russell Crowe is absolutely
brilliant as Wigand. His performance of a man on the verge of suicide
gives the movie its human center. Al Pacino as Bergman gives his usual
performance but sometimes loses the attention of the audience. The running
time of over two and a half hours seem to fly by. Personally I believe
it deserves best director and best actor at the Oscars. Whether it can
beat 'American Beauty' remains to be seen, but I won't complain if it
does.
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