History Film / TheInsider

'''Beware of unmarked spoilers below:'''

** Lowell Bergman goes against his own network - potentially risking being fired, burning all the bridges he has in any direction and facing a lawsuit on top of it all - when they do everything in their might to censor the piece he prepared and vouched for with his name.
** Upon realising he was used and duped just like Wigand, [[spoiler: Mike Wallace]] sides back with Lowell against CBS management.

* IntrepidReporter: Lowell Bergman. Once his own network decides to ditch him, he decides to still follow through with the interview and the case he opened, because that's what he considers the right thing to do.

** Bergman has one of his own when he finds out [[spoiler: Wallace]] is siding with the bosses about not airing the story.
* HeelFaceTurn: When Wigand and Bergman are getting ScrewedByTheNetwork in-universe, Mike Wallace is shown trying to take the high road and side with CBS. But then they start manipulating ''his'' statements as well.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Don Hewitt is portrayed as someone who willingly and actively caves-in to the outside pressure on the CBS. In reality, he was made completely powerless by the corporate branch, much like Lowell is portrayed in the movie - the fight was more of their duo against the corporate, than against each other.

* ExecutiveMeddling: InUniverse. One of the main themes of the movie is censorship and the tobacco industry's unlimited checkbook. Bergman can't get Wigand's interview aired because of CBS meddling.

[[BasedOnATrueStory It tells the true story]] of Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe), a senior researcher at Brown & Williamson tobacco company. After Wigand is fired from B&W, he goes to ''Series/SixtyMinutes'' and producer Lowell Bergman (Pacino) to spill the secrets he knows about the tobacco industry. Wigand's and Bergman's attempts to reveal the truth about Big Tobacco unsurprisingly lead to resistance from B&W – and, surprisingly, from [[Creator/{{CBS}} their own network]].

* BasedOnATrueStory: Broadly accurate. Some have suggested Wigand exaggerated his persecution at the hands of Brown & Williamson. The scene with a creepy guy stalking Wigand at a golf range is definitely fictional. Mike Wallace, as noted above, felt that the film lionized Bergman unfairly at his expense. Don Hewitt was also unhappy with his portrayal, but joked that if they'd had Creator/PaulNewman playing him, "I would've forgiven them anything." The real Lowell Bergman however claimed that the portrayal of Wallace was largely true to how he acted in real life.

* [[PoorCommunicationKills Poor Communication Skills]]: Brown & Williamson's official excuse for firing Wigand.

The AllStarCast has a raft of recognizable actors in supporting roles, like Creator/GinaGershon as a weaselly network executive, Creator/MichaelGambon faking a Southern accent ([[OohMeAccentsSlipping most of the time]]) as a weaselly tobacco executive, and Creator/BruceMcGill with a pretty spectacular OneSceneWonder appearance as a lawyer who calls Wigand to testify in a lawsuit.

Nominated for seven [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscars]], but didn't win any.

!! '''''WIPE THAT TROPE OFF YOUR FACE!''''':

* AdaptationalVillainy: Don Hewitt is portrayed as someone who willingly and actively caves-in to the outside pressure on the CBS. In reality, he was made completely powerless by the corporate branch, much like Lowell is portrayed in the movie - the fight was more of their duo against the corporate, than against each other.

* BittersweetEnding: The interview is eventually aired in full, but Lowell quits CBS, knowing that after what happened, he no longer can provide proper support to his sources, as the Wigand case showed that the network will cave in if the right people apply enough pressure. Wigand himself is still a broken man, that might see justice and validation for his actions, but at massive personal costs.

* ImagineSpot: After the censored interview is aired and the defeated Jeff is sitting in a hotel room, ignoring calls from Bergman, he starts to imagine his daughters playing in a garden, reminiscing happier, better times. All while the poor hotel clerk has to deal with Lowell on the phone.

* MametSpeak: A significant number of scenes focus on high-level legalese and corporate double-speak, most notably when Wigand and Bergman are discussing his employment history while attempting to tiptoe around breaking his expanded confidentiality agreement.

-->(After a disastrous dinner in which the wife walks out, crying, and Wigand [[INeedAFreakingDrink goes straight to the bar counter]], mid-sentence)\\
'''Wallace:''' (flabbergasted) Who are these people?\\

* PrecisionFStrike: Wigand declaring, "Fuck it. Let's go to court."

* ShownTheirWork: Towards the end of the film, Mike shows Lowell an unflattering article and editorial about CBS in the latest issue of ''The New York Times''. The article and editorial are in different sections of the paper. Usually, their editorial/op-ed pieces usually appear in the back of the main news section. The real-life pieces to which this scene refers, were published on a Sunday (November 12, 1995) however, which means that the news and editorials do in fact appear in separate sections.
** Also, the scenes that took place in Pascagoula were filmed at the actual home of Richard Scruggs and the courtroom where the deposition was held.

* AdaptationTitleChange: ''The Insider'' is based on the ''Vanity Fair'' article "The Man who Knew Too Much" (likely changed to avoid confusion with the Creator/AlfredHitchcock [[Film/TheManWhoKnewTooMuch film]].

* DirtyCop: The federal agents who show up when Wigand calls regarding the bullet placed in his mailbox and the threatening email. Rather than taking him seriously, they spend the entire time accusing him of having planted the bullet himself before stealing his computer with the incriminating email on it. Bergman chews out their supervisor regarding how many ties they and their previous coworkers have to Big Tabacco, including their ex-supervisor who is currently employed by Brown & Williamson.

* BittersweetEnding: The interview is eventually aired in full, but Lowell quits CBS, knowing that after what happened, he no longer can provide proper support to his sources, as the Wigand case showed that the network will cave-in if the right people apply enough pressure. Wigand himself is still a broken man, that might saw justice and validation for his actions, but at massive personal costs.

* DirtyCop: The federal agents who show up when Wigand calls regarding the bullet placed in his mailbox and the threatening email. Rather than taking him seriously, they spend the entire time accusing him of having planted the bullet himself before stealing his computer with the incriminating email on it. Burgmand chews out their supervisor regarding how many ties they and their previous coworkers have to Big Tabacco, including their ex-supervisor who is currently employed by Brown & Williamson.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Wigand takes his confidentiality agreement seriously, and it's all but stated that he only broke it because of his former employers' heavy-handed attempts at intimidating him. Even after having spoken with Burgman several times, he was still on the fence about doing the expose until he was directly threatened with an email saying his family would be killed and a bullet was placed in his mailbox. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain If they'd just left him alone, he might never have talked.]]