Being a whistleblower isn't as straightforward as it sounds. People seldom understand the internal struggle of the informant and the side effects on his/her life. What makes it more difficult is when you are about to squeal on one of the biggest companies in the American tobacco industry. THE INSIDER tells the story of Jeffrey Wigand and his relationship with "60 Minutes" producer Lowell Bergman when Wigand decides to come out in the open about the risks of smoking.

When a difference in opinion arises between Wigand (Russel Crowe) as the director of Research & Development and the tobacco firm he works for, they fire him. To ensure that he still continues living the good life of medical benefits and that his children can still go to the same classy school they have been attending, he signs a contract of secrecy with the firm wherein he undertakes not to disclose any of the things that happened behind closed doors.

Unfortunately the truth keeps eating at Jeffrey. He is confronted by the secrets he keeps to secure his family's well being and the impact of exposing the truth for the benefit of society as a whole.

This is where the producer of the famous TV show "60 Minutes" comes into the picture. Lowell Bergmen (Al Pacino) soon realizes that something is happening. After constant nagging, Jeffrey finally decides to stuff the severance package and go live with his story on "60 Minutes". In return Lowell has to make a few commitments.

Sounds like an excellent save-the-socio-economic type of story? Yet, from here on, the trouble really starts for Jeffrey Wigand. Constant badgering, threats to his family and incriminating facts from his own past, all lead to his wife leaving him in the end. And just as you think it couldn't go worse, "60 Minutes" decides not to screen his episode in fear of being sued.

Most of you might know the story of Jeffrey Wigand and how this meek looking fellow revealed all the skeletons of the tobacco industry in America. I remember reading about it in newspapers that the American Tobacco Industry had to pay millions of dollars to different states in America for perjury. Quite fascinating, but I remember thinking again: only in America!

If you look at THE INSIDER though, you soon realize that the whole build up to this saga, is something way more dramatic and tragic than you could ever have imagined. It explores the whole inner conflict of Jeffrey Wigand, who is absolutely brilliantly played by Crowe. You experience the moral struggle he has to go through and the pain when the going gets tough. Crowe, who made his big screen impact in "LA Confidential" and was recently seen in "Mystery, Alaska", totally transform himself from those roles into Jeffrey Wigand, who is portrayed as a middle-aged, slightly-pot- bellied father of two.

The other figure just as important as Jeffrey Wigand, is Lowell Bergman. After scooping this story for "60 Minutes", Lowell is suddenly faced with an immense working principle when "60 Minutes" decides to cancel the Wigand-episode and not to screen it. For Bergman the pride in his work has always been coming through for the informants he works with. He always gets the story, but he always keeps his side of the bargain. Now, for the first time he comes face to face with bureaucracy, as the corporate section of "60 Minutes" is more afraid of being sued than they are of screening the Wigand-episode and revealing the truth.

To portray these internal struggles and the relationship between the two characters, you can't squeeze a movie into the normal one and a half hour long playing time. Two and a half hours might seem extremely long, especially when most of the camera shots tend to focus on nothing and are 50% out of focus. These wide shots, intense close ups, and indirect focus, all bathed in cool blue light and threaded together with an inventive soundtrack, are all signatures of director Michael Mann ("Heat", 1996). Mann has the ability to bring out the emotions of every character. Taking his time focusing on shots like the patterns of rain on a windshield to the rush of winds through the trees, his camera work ranges from out-of- focus to sweeping clarity that really brings that feeling of realism to THE INSIDER. Even though nominated for an Oscar, this movie is definitely not for everyone. Many people always try to analyze the character development in a movie, but the minute they are confronted by a movie like THE INSIDER or last year's "Random Hearts", they launch into how boring it was and that nothing ever happened. But this all depends on what kind of movie you like.

-- Jean-Pierre Pellissier