The Insider (1999) on Netflix
R19992h 37mBiographyDramaThriller
Lowell Bergman, a 60 Minutes producer, asks Jeffrey Wigand, a former tobacco company executive, to help him read technical documents. A confidentiality agreement keeps Wigand from saying more.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.8/10193,385 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes96%
Trailer
Plot summary
Lowell Bergman produces segments for 60 Minutes. He persuades Sheikh Fadlallah, the founder of Hezbollah, to let Mike Wallace interview him, and the two men stand their ground when the sheikh's armed bodyguards try to disrupt the taping. Bergman later asks Jeffrey Wigand, a former executive at the Brown & Williamson tobacco company, to help him explain technical documents. Wigand agrees but says he cannot discuss anything else, because of a confidentiality agreement.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Insider (1999)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film received seven Academy Award nominations but won none; Joe Roth said everyone was really proud of it, but that it was "one of those rare times when adults loved a movie, yet they couldn't convince their friends to go see it, any more than we could convince people in marketing the film".
- Mike Wallace said that two-thirds of the film was quite accurate, but disagreed with its portrayal of his own role, objecting in particular to the impression that he would have taken a long time to protest CBS's corporate policies.
- The film earned $29.1 million in North America and $31.2 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $60.3 million, significantly lower than its $90 million budget, and was considered a commercial disappointment.
- Quentin Tarantino included The Insider in his list of the top 20 films released since 1992, the year he became a director himself.
- For the scene in which the deposition hearing takes place, the filmmakers used the actual courtroom in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where the real deposition had been given.
