1999: The Podcast #085 – The Insider – with Lindsay Beyerstein
Michael Mann’s The Insider is easily the most glaring omission from the our initial 18, universally regarded as one of the best – if not THE best – movie of 1999.
Finishing in 69th place, sandwiched between two previous entries, Girl Interrupted at 70th and Mystery Men at 68th, The Insider stars Russell Crowe, in an Oscar-nominated performance, and Al Pacino alongside an incredibly deep supporting class (including the greatest character actor alive, Stephen Tobolowsky)
Directed by Michael Mann and adapted from the 1996 Vanity Fair article “The Man Who Knew Too Much” by Marie Brenner, The Insider received rave reviews, wound up on countless year-end top 10 lists, and was nominated for a slew of Oscars, including Mann for directing and screenwriting, but was shut out by the juggernaut that was American Beauty.
Since it’s widely regarded as one of Mann’s best films and one the best films ever made about journalism, we invited investigative journalist Lindsay Beyerstein to tell us how well the movie mirrors real life and to dig into what it’s like to watch a movie about CBS News struggling to maintain its integrity as a journalistic entity in the bleak future of 26 years later.
Lindsay is on Bluesky @beyerstein
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