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Michael Mann
The Insider
Mann, 56, helped redefine TV cop shows in the '80s with the pastel cool of Miami Vice. He then put his flair for atmosphere and character conflict to work in such epic action films as Last Of The Mohicans ('92) and Heat ('95). After a four-year break, the writer/director tackles a different, though no less heated arena: The tussle between Big Tobacco and CBS' 60 Minutes in The Insider (Nov. 5), starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.
Why the movie matters: After four years, Mann is back with his most ambitiously dramatic film yet -- the fact-based account of a whistleblower who takes on two sizable foes, Big Tobacco and Big Media.
His cast: Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer
The story he's telling: In 1995, Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe), a fired cigarette company scientist and victim of a smear campaign, and Lowell Bergman (Pacino), a veteran 60 Minutes producer, attempt to expose the unethical practices in the tobacco industry, with an on-air interview with Mike Wallace (Plummer). CBS, up for sale at the time and fearing a lawsuit, initially refuses to run the piece.
The story behind the story: "This is the antithesis of Mr.
Smith Goes To Washington," Mann says. "There are no heroes or villains
in this piece. It's an opportunity to present protagonists who are stunningly
like us, with all the psychological acne we have."
The focus is on Wigand and Bergman, two very different
men. "Jeffrey is a man of science and part of the corporate culture. Lowell
is something of an ideologue, a worldwise, streetwise investigative TV
journalist. This isn't a buddy picture. If they met each other socially,
they wouldn't be interested in one another. The one and only thing they
have in common is that voice that says 'I ought to be this way.' Each man
has a superego."
And why did he cast New Zealand actor Crowe, who
had to age 20 years, gain about 50 pounds and dye his hair gray as Wigand?
"I cast him after seeing L.A. Confidential, where he was by design
a very tense and monochromatic. This is a very different part, an operatic
performance of the most intimate psychological dynamics."
Mann quit smoking before the shoot. "Not for the
thematic reasons. On a movie this intense, I would be up to three-four
packs in no time."
Release date: November 5
The outlook: Expect an unfiltered All The President's Men
for the '90s. And with Wallace already griping about how he's portrayed,
a box-office-boosting controversy is ready to burn.