The Insider

Based on the first half of The Insider (viewed in class this week) and The Insider Review in Variety, answer one of the questions below.

• The opening scenes reveal little about why and how Brown & Williamson fired Jeffrey Wigand. Instead, the film intercuts between scenes of Lowell Bergman working on a "60 Minutes" interview in Lebanon and scenes of Wigand's life after he lost his job. Is this an effective storytelling technique? What do we learn about the two men?
  
• As the story unfolds, we learn that Wigand is the "witness who has been betrayed, and Bergman is the righteous crusader who has been hung out to dry." Does this story have clear-cut heroes and villains? If so, who are they?
• The Variety reviewer calls the movie "borderline pretentious"? What does he mean? Do you agree? He also writes that, "at 157 minutes, pic feels at least 20 minutes too long." Do you agree? If so, what parts would you cut and why?