Back to trending
The Insider

The Insider

Drama · Thriller · 1999

A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.

Movie details

The Insider

“Two men driven to tell the truth … whatever the cost.”

1999 Drama · Thriller 2h 38m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.5 / 10

Community rating

A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Insider?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Nothing But the Truth

Nothing But the Truth

Drama · 2008

When reporter Rachel Armstrong writes a story that reveals the identity of a covert CIA operative, the government demands that Rachel reveal her source. She defies the special prosecutor and is thrown in jail. Meanwhile, her attorney, Albert Burnside argues her case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Crush

The Crush

Thriller · 1993

A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.

Closet Land

Closet Land

Drama · 1991

A young writer is interrogated by a sadistic secret policeman. She is accused of embedding political messages in her children's stories. The entire movie takes place in one room, with only the two actors. The movie is set in an unidentified, modern police state.

Tyler Perry's Duplicity

Tyler Perry's Duplicity

Thriller · 2025

High-powered attorney Marley faces her most personal case yet when she is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the murder of her best friend Fela’s husband. With the help of her boyfriend – a former cop turned private investigator – Marley’s search for what really happened leads her down a treacherous maze of deception and betrayal.

Neverwas

Neverwas

Drama · 2005

Zach Riley is a psychiatrist, who leaves a job at a prestigious university, to take up a job at the privately run mental institution, Millwood. What he doesn't reveal at the time of his appointment is that this was the very place where his novelist father, T.L. Pierson, spent many years of his life.

The Experiment

The Experiment

Thriller · 2010

20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.

The Infiltrator

The Infiltrator

Crime · 2016

A U.S Customs official uncovers a massive money laundering scheme involving Pablo Escobar.

The Hummingbird Project

The Hummingbird Project

Thriller · 2019

A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.

The Company You Keep

The Company You Keep

Drama · 2012

A former Weather Underground activist goes on the run from a journalist who discovers his identity.

The Public Eye

The Public Eye

Crime · 1992

A crime photographer gets involved in a conspiracy.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Mann

Written by

Eric Roth · Michael Mann

Al Pacino

Al Pacino

Lowell Bergman

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe

Jeffrey Wigand

Christopher Plummer

Christopher Plummer

Mike Wallace

Diane Venora

Diane Venora

Liane Wigand

Philip Baker Hall

Philip Baker Hall

Don Hewitt

Lindsay Crouse

Lindsay Crouse

Sharon Tiller

Debi Mazar

Debi Mazar

Debbie De Luca

Court is in session

Put The Insider on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.