Closing out a decade comprising two iconic hits (Heat, The Last of the Mohicans), Oscar-nominated director Michael Mann decided to next collaborate with Oscar-winning writer Eric Roth (Forest Gump) on this docudrama about a controversial story which ran at the highly-rated news-program "60 Minutes" just a few years prior. This news segment focused on an interview with "Big Tobacco" whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand (Russel Crowe) and what damaging secrets he was able to review about the questionable business practices of his former employer, Brown & Williamson. Unfortunately this segment didn't air right away resulting from various complicating factors including political concerns at the network (CBS) airing it, ongoing litigation from Brown & Williamson, and Wigand's own personal history coming to light. The producer on this segment and the other key "insider" in this story was 60 Minutes' Lowell Bergman played by Oscar-winner Al Pacino. And what results is a stirring film which was beloved by critics though not by audiences....it would also receive seven Oscar nominations including for Best Picture. It remains one of the best films from a sterling year (1999) for cinema and also featured a stacked cast including Diane Venora, Christopher Plummer, Phillip Baker Hall, Michael Gambon, Debi Mazar, Gina Gershon, and Bruce McGill.
Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon
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