The Insider
Touchstone Home Video | Release Date: November 5, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
85
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
May be the best movie of the year. Read full review
100
Rolling StonePeter Travers
With it's dynamite performances, strafing wit and dramatic provocation, The Insider offers Mann at his best -- blood up, unsanitized and unbowed.
100
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A marvelous ensemble cast and all the visceral impact and moment-to-moment tension of a fine thriller, together with the distinctive visual style of an art film. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Excellent acting, a stirring screenplay, and crisply intelligent directing make this fact-based movie a great human drama as well as a riveting and revealing look at crucially important social issues. Read full review
100
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
The final product is great populist entertainment and may even leave audiences with a feeling of comfort, however fleeting, in the knowledge that corrupt corporations don't always win Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's a terrific movie -- intelligent, magnificently acted, highly compelling as a thriller, and downright scary in its implications for the corporate-run world of the new millennium. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A dead-on tale of corporate power, courage, cowardice and how we live. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Is still sleek, gripping entertainment with a raw-nerved, changeable camera style that helps to amplify its meaning. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Corliss
The viewer almost has to be a journalist--or a good editor--to sniff out the meat under all the fat. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Almost cagily creating understated drama from high-stakes reality. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A well-orchestrated nightmare that keeps you on edge until the very end. Read full review
90
Mr. ShowbizRichard T. Jameson
For two hours and 35 minutes it is absolutely riveting. Read full review
90
SlateDavid Edelstein
A big, overlong, and rather unwieldy piece of storytelling, but the story it has to tell is so vital that it cuts through all the dramaturgical muddiness. It's a terrific muckraking melodrama--it will get people fuming. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Has the glorious look and immaculate technique we expect from Mann, along with a wealth of superb secondary performances. Read full review
90
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Reveals a chilling reality: how hard it is to tell a simple truth when big business doesn't want it told. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Power to absorb, entertain and anger. Read full review
88
USA TodayMike Clark
At its best, hard-hitting grown-up cinema (rare these days) and a movie blessed with a villain (Big Tobacco) for which all gloves can be removed and heaved into the next county. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
This is a first-class muckraking melodrama: an admirable picture. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
A big, bold movie that gets at undeniable truths about the way no one, no matter how powerful, is immune from manipulation. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Earnest, smart, handsome, well-acted and made with mastery. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
May be pumped-up, but it's rarely boring Read full review
80
Film.comRobert Horton
It's great that this movie exists. Read full review
80
TNT RoughCutTom Cappello
Overall, a solid piece of film that not only entertains but also educates. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
A meticulously assembled dramatization of a grossly controversial moment in TV history. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A good but far from great movie because it portrays truth telling in America as far more imperiled than it is. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Pacino and Crowe are at their best, but the supporting cast also shines. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
Tells an important story about a story that might never have been told at all. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Few American directors drive this wedge between mind and gut as masterfully as Michael Mann. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
A beautifully shot, well-acted movie that manages to make a complicated, real-life story without much drama feel like a thriller. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
An exciting dramatization of the strange events that marked the turning of the legal tide against Big Tobacco, and a particularly dark moment in the annals of CBS News. Read full review
70
Film.comSean Means
The insider's view of celebrity in The Insider grabs the spotlight from the real story of Wigand's courage. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A borderline pretentious, overly inflated picture. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
A big, dark juggernaut of a movie about a big, dark juggernaut of a subject. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It's all a little too polished, a little too smug to be ranked up there as one of the great journalism films. Read full review
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