OutRun2

What a great film. I can't believe that out of all those nominations it didn't receive even ONE! Totally robbed at the Oscars. Not only should Crowe have won for best actor, but Pacino and Plummer should been at least nominated for best supporting actors. They were amazing.

I hesitated on watching it for so long because it looked terribly boring in what little previews I saw, but it surprisingly delivered and is definitely up there with Mann's best pictures.

Now, can anyone tell me why the dvd release is so barebones? When are we getting a 3-disc special edition with commentaries from Mann, Pacino and Crowe?

hardercore

I felt the same when I first saw it. Good as American Beauty was, The Insider completely floored me and is now one of my very favourite movies. Crowe gives, I think, the best performance of his career here (he won a make-up Oscar the next year but should have been given kudos, rightly, for his work here). Very rarely does a political drama captivate me in the way this does. To top it all off, I'm a sucker for beautiful cinematography and this film has it in bounds -- the driving range scene at night strikes me as the best example.

mikelowry

Heat is my favorite Michael Mann film but I agree that The Insider is equally a great film. Haven't seen this in years so I think this deserves another viewing.

The Bus

You know, I just think it's the kind of movie that you don't want to see but once you see it, you like it. I say that because I bought it years ago and haven't put it in the player yet.

(I saw it on VHS originally).

DeanoBKN

I recently saw this for the 1st time not too long ago myself, and you are correct, the movie was robbed at the oscars.

chris_sc77

I loved this movie. I was lucky enough to see it in theatres when I was 13 and I loved it then. It's such a beautiful well written film that has an amazing score to go with those great visuals. Its a film that I guess some people find boring I guess but I dont know why. I find it much more exciting that Michael Clayton, Miami Vice or ofter films that are either legal thrillers or Michael Mann movies as of late.

I have been hoping for more than 7 years now for a 2-Disk Criterion release of this film but it doesn't look likely. This would be the perfect film for Criterion because of all the historical supplements that exist. I'll be happy with any SE for this though cause it badly deserves it.

OutRun2

yeah I hear ya. Would be a shame if we dont get one

PopcornTreeCt

I would say it's easily Mann's best film. Though my favorite Mann film is Collateral.

condorito

Thanks for making this thread, cannot believe I didn't watch this movie, simply amazing.

Crowe was simply brilliant

mwbmis

Completely agree on Plummer...what an oversight (forget nominated, I remember thinking that he should have won). Pacino is really the lead actor in the film (Crowe is more the co-lead), and I think it's possibly the best performance he gives in the second half of his career. Certainly, it was a gem hidden in the middle of some really bombastic performances around that time. As for the film itself, it's been a few years since I watched it, but at the time I thought it was the best of the year.

CKMorpheus

One of my top three Mann films.

1. Heat
2. Collateral
3. The Insider

yep yep yep. LOVED this movie!

wilky61

Haha, I can relate to that. I've owned the movie for like a year-and-a-half now, but I've just never gotten around to watching it... never really been motivated to and I've just figured I had bigger fish to fry... maybe I'll check this out sometime over the next month whenever I can find time.

The Bus

Well, I finally rewatched this, mostly because I had just seen Michael Clayton (again) and wanted to see The Insider to make a proper comparison.

The weak link in The Insider has to be the plot/story (not the script). It just isn't terribly interesting and the idea of Big Tobacco having any fangs is sort of quaint, like seeing a movie where "the Soviets" are the enemy. I think this is also the reason that it's not impulsively watchable. Russell Crowe fighting against cigarette-peddlers just doesn't have the same impact as, say, him fighting the Roman Empire.

Yet, the movie still succeeds, and admirably. Pacino's performance still seems phoned in, which is actually praise since a phoned-in-Pacino performance is still more watchable than the average actor's best work.

In the end, I liked Michael Clayton a smidgen more because it seems a lot more personal than The Insider.

Cardiac161

Love The Insider as well. This film proves his incredible skills in placing the viewer at the edge of their seats, whether it be on the streets or inside a boardroom.

I also was quite enthralled in the music he picks, especially for this film. Lisa Gerrard's haunting "Sacrifice" & Massive Attack's "Safe from Harm" were used so efficiently to provoke the viewer.

Torchur317

Amazing film,very under-rated....

The Bus

I would say almost the opposite. Michael Mann makes some terrible choices in music. The Chris Cornell song in Collateral is one example.

NoirFan

One of the finest American films of the decade. It really is ridiculous that there isn't a SE, considering the amount of contextual material that could be included.

badlieut

Crowe getting the Oscar for Gladiator was a make-up for the Insider snub.

Supermallet

I'm going to be the black sheep and say that I hated The Insider. I thought it was drawn out, tedious, and kept making the same points over and over. The plot took so long to advance that I was worried by the time the lights went up, the theater would be covered in new geological formations. Plummer was very good, but Pacino and Crowe didn't impress me. Crowe was pouty, Pacino was shouty. One of my least favorite Michael Mann films, and one of my least favorite films of that year.