The Insider (film)

The Insider is a 1999 American biographical thriller film directed by Michael Mann and written by Mann and Eric Roth, based on Marie Brenner's 1996 Vanity Fair article "The Man Who Knew Too Much". The film stars Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Bruce McGill, Diane Venora and Michael Gambon. A fictionalized account of a true story, it centers on the controversial 60 Minutes segment about Jeffrey Wigand, a whistleblower in the tobacco industry, covering his and CBS producer Lowell Bergman's struggles as they defend his testimony against efforts to discredit and suppress it by CBS and Wigand's former employer. Although not a box-office success, The Insider received acclaim from critics, who praised Crowe's portrayal of Wigand and Mann's direction.