December 8 - The Insider

This movie has a scene that happens today – December 8. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

THE INSIDER                           

Lowell Bergman arranges for Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes to interview the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Louisville, Kentucky, Jeffrey Wigand, who has two kids with serious health issues, comes home after having been fired from his job at Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company. Bergman gets a box of documents from inside Phillip Morris and gets referred to Wigand as someone who can help him interpret them. After being rebuffed at first Wigand and Bergman meet. Wigand says he can interpret the documents, but can’t talk about anything else. Wigand is called back to Brown & Williamson and told to sign an expanded confidentially agreement or lose his health benefits. Wigand thinks Bergman has talked, but after convincing him he did not, Wigand tells him tobacco company executives, including his own former boss, Thomas Sandefur lied when they told Congress they did not know nicotine was addictive. Wigand starts teaching and thinks someone is watching him, while Bergman decides that if Wigand had to testify in a court case, that would make what he said public record and then Brown and Williamson could not sue him. Wigand testifies in the state of Mississippi’s lawsuit against the tobacco companies, even though he was served with a Kentucky court order not to. When he gets home he finds his wife has left him. At CBS they start to fear a lawsuit by Brown and Williamson and decide to show an edited version of Wigand’s interview.  Wigand discovers that the tobacco companies have started a smear campaign against him on December 8, 1995 [1:51:55 to 1:59:24]. Bergman later proves most of the mud that was thrown at Wigand was either distorted or just plain untrue. After the edited interview is broadcast, Bergman tips off the New York Times about what happened at CBS, which does a story accusing CBS of caving. The unedited interview finally airs, but Bergman quits.

A very important movie. It shows the danger of allowing corporations to own news sources. Wigand is what Bergman called him: a hero.

The date is given in the film at 1:56:49 on a computer screen

Awards – The film was nominated for the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Crowe), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Oscars at the  72^nd Academy Awards.

Producers - Pieter Jan Brugge and Michael Mann

Screenplay -  Eric Roth and Michael Mann

Director - Michael Mann

Runtime – 2 hours 37 minutes

Released – November 5, 1999

Starring –

Al Pacino as Lowell Bergman

Russell Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand

Renee Olstead as Deborah Wigand

Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace

Diane Venora as Liane Wigand

Philip Baker Hall as Don Hewitt

Lindsay Crouse as Sharon Tiller

Debi Mazar as Debbie De Luca

Hallie Kate Eisenberg as Barbara Wigand

Stephen Tobolowsky as Eric Kluster

Colm Feore as Richard Scruggs

Bruce McGill as Ron Motley

Gina Gershon as Helen Caperelli

Michael Gambon as B&W CEO Thomas Sandefur

Gary Sandy as Sandefur's lawyer

Roger Bart as Seelbach Hotel Manager

Jack Palladino as Himself