8:09 PM, 8th June, 2000
No Guests
This film is the tale of two ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances, of the power of big business, and of what it will do to maintain that power.
Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe) was a central witness in the lawsuits filed by Mississippi and 49 other states against the tobacco industry which were eventually settled for $246 billion. As the former head of research and development at Brown & Williamson, he was exactly the sort of person that the cigarette manufacturers didn't want to testify.
Lowell Bergman (Pacino), an investigative reporter and producer for '60 Minutes', arranged and taped an interview between Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) and Wigand, one that promised to be the most devastating and newsworthy '60 Minutes' in years. However, before it could air, CBS upper management chose to kill it, creating bitter divisions with the '60 Minutes' organisation.
Wigand was sued and faced possible incarceration. Bergman fought to have the interview broadcast. Both found themselves the subjects of a national smear campaign, yet they continued to battle to bring their testimony to the light of day.
This is a provocative and compelling work about the workings of industry. Its style is grim, oppressing at times, and one can't help empathising with the central characters. If you're already suspicious of the huge corporations that seem to control our lives, then this may be the film which validates your apprehensions.
Chris Banks