The Insider (1999) - Mann rips apart big tobacco and media giant in fiery corporate thriller

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The faces of its two A-list stars in black and white is the whole poster here for Michael Mann's The Insider

A top scientist with one of America's largest tobacco companies is willing to go to great lengths to reveal his knowledge of the addictive-creating properties in the cigarettes.

 

The Insider is written by Eric Roth (A Star Is Born (2018)) and great Illinoisan filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Michael Mann (Thief (1981)). It is based on the 1996 Vanity Fair article The Man Who Knew Too Much by Marie Brenner (American Tragedy: The Ballad of Richard Jewell (1997)).

It's another Mann picture about two contradictory men, whose paths cross. In this case we are treated to two of the world's greatest actors, Russell Crowe (The Nice Guys (2016)) and Al Pacino (The Irishman (2019)), giving it their all in a gripping, intelligently told and thrilling story of commercial deceit.

The last 45 minutes of the film seem a bit long, - Mann might have skated through the internal CBS debacle a bit speedier. Christopher Plummer (Starcrash (1978)) portrays 60 Minutes anchorman Mike Wallace in this part of the film, and it's hard to imagine that the real-life Wallace was overly pleased with the portrait.

 

Related posts:

Michael Mann: Public Enemies (2009) - Mann heads to the 1930s 

Top 10: Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date 

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Collateral (2004) - Great, urban, digital age thriller from Mann in his right element

Top 10: Best heist movies 

1995 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Heat (1995) - Mann's superb masculine thriller showstopper 

Manhunter (1986) - Perhaps the best criminal profiling picture ever 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 68-90 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 60.2 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.66-0.88 times its cost)

[The Insider premiered 28 October (Los Angeles) and runs 158 minutes. Shooting took place from May - October 1998 in Israel, California, including in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Mississippi, Alabama, New York, Indiana, Bahamas and Kentucky. The film's allotted budget was 68 mil. $, but it is listed some places as 90 mil. $, indicating that perhaps Mann went way over-budget. The film opened #4, behind fellow new release The Bone Collector, holdover hit House on Haunted Hill and new release The Bachelor, to a 6.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 29 mil. $ (48.2 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning none. It lost Best Actor (Crowe) to Kevin Spacey in American Beauty, Cinematography (Dante Spinotti (Traffik (2018)) to Conrad L. Hall for American Beauty, Director to Sam Mendes for American Beauty, Editing to The Matrix, Picture to American Beauty, Sound to The Matrix and Adapted Screenplay to John Irving for The Cider House Rules. It was also nominated for a BAFTA and 5 Golden Globes and won 3 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Mann returned with Ali (2001). Crowe returned in Gladiator (2000); Pacino in Any Given Sunday (1999). The Insider is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Insider?

Hustlers (2019) or, Strip and Rob, Go Girl!

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A string of sexually charged stills of the scantily clad female stars of the film makes up most of this poster for Lorene Scafaria's Hustlers

After the 2008 financial crisis tightened the belt around New York's surviving Wall Street elite, a group of strippers who depended economically on these men decided to go to extremes to keep - and accelerate - their luxurious lifestyles...

Hustlers is written and directed by Lorene Scafaria (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)), based on the 2015 New York magazine article The Hustlers at Scores by Jessica Pressler.

Can one use stripping as a means to female emancipation, or is the discipline per definition degrading? Scafaria's superficial, consumeristicly fixated bubble of a film asks that question. Hustlers attempts to work as a runaway train that one boards and becomes seduced by, - probably against one's better judgment, - just as the woman characters around Jennifer Lopez's (Out of Sight (1998)) veteran stripper leader do in the movie. Men on Wall Street screw the world over, and women strippers then screw over these men, - that's the story here. Go look in the phonebook for additional depth, if you require it. - It isn't available in Hustlers.

The plot unfolds in snappy, short, unmemorable scenes with lots of sleazy, accompanying hit songs. Hustlers doesn't teach its (presumably mostly young) audience anything; nothing edifying at least. Offensively and decidedly unedifyingly, however, it teaches its viewers that one can get away with a wealth of crime by being a smiling, laughing, over-consuming, attractive stripper, who believes that anything goes in the 'holy' name of women's liberation.

 

Related post:

 

Lorene Scafaria: The Meddler (2015) - Stars elevate Scafaria's mother-daughter romcom

 

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 20.7 mil. $

Box office: 157.5 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 7.60 times its cost)

[Hustlers premiered 7 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 110 minutes. Lopez was paid 9 mil. $ for her performance. Shooting took place from March - May 2019 in New York. The film opened #2, behind It Chapter Two, to a 33.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it remained in the top 5 for another 3 weekends (#5-#2-#4), grossing 104.9 mil. $ (66.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 9.4 mil. $ (6 %) and Australia with 6.5 mil. $ (4.1 %). The studio reportedly spent 38 mil. $ promoting the film. It was nominated for a Golden Globe and 3 Independent Spirit awards, among many other honors. It additionally made a reported 5.5 mil. $ on the North-American home video market. Scafaria returned with Succession (2021-23) but has has yet to make her theatrical return. Lopez returned in 6 short and music video credits prior to her theatrical return in Marry Me (2022); Constance Wu (Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022)) in Fresh off the Boat (2015-20)), with a voice performance in Wish Dragon (2021) and with a physical theatrical performance in I Was a Simple Man (2021). Hustlers is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hustlers?

The Old Man & the Gun (2018) - Lowery's lackluster caper career cap for Redford

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Only an impeccably dressed star Robert Redford with his face covered appears on this minimalist poster for David Lowery's The Old Man & the Gun

Forrest Tucker is a veteran career criminal specialized in bank robbery, who in a situation of escape takes interest in a gracious older lady with engine failure, who turns out to become important for him. Almost as important as the bank robberies.

 

The Old Man & the Gun is written and directed by David Lowery (Deadroom (2005)), based on David Grann's (The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon (2009)) 2003 article The Old Man and the Gun from The New Yorker, which concerned the real-life story of Forrest Tucker.

Robert Redford's (War Hunt (1962)) star persona as a gentleman outlaw gets a classy ribbon tied around it in the shape of this quietly mulling true-crime picture, with an unimpressed working-man Casey Affleck (Committed (2000)) after him and Sissy Spacek (Badlands (1973)) as the sweet, unexpected new romantic partner.

It is all very sweet but also dull in its virtuous cinematic nature, ('a last show for the old champ' sort of thing), a film that drifts ahead nice and easy without much thematic ground to it. Well-produced but slow going.

 

Related post:

 

David Lowery: Pete's Dragon (2016) - Lowery plays Disney remake safe

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 15.8 mil. $

Box office: 17.8 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.12 times its cost)

[The Old Man & the Gun premiered 31 August (Telluride Film Festival) and runs 93 minutes. Shooting took place around April 2017 in Ohio, Michigan, Texas and Kentucky. The film opened #32 to a 142k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #10 and in 1,042 theaters (different weeks), grossing 11.2 mil. $ (62.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 1.4 mil. $ (7.9 %) and the UK with 791k $ (4.4 %). The film was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Lowery returned with a TV-series, a segment and a short prior to his theatrical return The Green Knight (2021). Redford returned with a voice performance in Buttons, A New Musical Film (2018) and physically in Avengers: Endgame (2019); Affleck in Light of My Life (2019); and Spacek in 3 TV-series and a music video prior to her theatrical return in Sam & Kate (2022). The Old Man & the Gun is certified fresh at 93 % with a 7.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Old Man & the Gun? 

The Mule (2018) - Drug-runner true story proves another fine fit for screen legend Eastwood

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Star Clint Eastwood's weather-bitten profile set against a wide sky over the flat plains make up this poster for his own The Mule

Earl is in his 80s and has a bitter ex-wife. He doesn't feel that he can contribute with much in the world anymore, when one day he gets offered good money to drive drugs across the Mexican border...

 

The Mule is written by Nick Schenk (Gran Torino (2008)), based on the New York Times article The Sinaloa Cartel's 90-Year-Old Drug Mule (2014) by Sam Dolnick, and directed, co-produced and starring Californian master filmmaker Clint Eastwood (Play Misty for Me (1971)), whose 37th feature it is as director.

Eastwood is once again outstanding, unafraid, stout and freedom-loving, and with a vulnerability here that may have come with old age, which we haven't seen so much of in him before. If this was our last ride with the hero, undoubtedly one of cinema's very greatest, it would be a superb finale.

Dianne Wiest (The 10th Kingdom (2000, miniseries)) and Bradley Cooper (Jack & Bobby (2004-05)) are exemplary as the sour ex and the drug officer on Eastwood's tail. The Mule is a simple, good story that's engaging from beginning to end.

Related posts:

Clint Eastwood: Sully (2016) - Eastwood's miracle landing biopic is inert and overrated  2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
American Sniper (2014) - Eastwood conveys an American man and myth in electric masterpiece  
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess   
J. Edgar (2011) - Eastwood, Black and DiCaprio's great, intense biopic   

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Gran Torino (2008) - Eastwood's actor persona comes full circle in absolute smash (co-producer/director/starring actor)
The Changeling (2008) or, The Christine Collins Story  
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]    
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Letters from Iwo Jima/硫黄島からの手紙 [Öjima Kara no Tegami] (2006) - The Japanese side of Eastwood's remarkable WWII two-parter   
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - Eastwood's Iwo Jima portrayal is captivating and profoundly moving 

Blood Work (2002) - Eastwood churns out uninspired thriller adaptation (producer/director/starring actor)
The Dead Pool (1988) - The highly entertaining last Dirty Harry movie (starring actor)
City Heat (1984) - Eastwood and Reynolds wrestle dispassionately in Benjamin's messy period affair (co-starring actor)
Tightrope (1984) - An undervalued Clint Eastwood sex killer thriller (starring actor)
Any Which Way You Can (1980) or, More Monkey Business! (starring actor)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - Siegel, Tuggle and Eastwood's phenomenal prison escape thriller (starring actor)
Every Which Way but Loose (1978) or, Honky Tonk Monkey Business! (starring actor)

The Gauntlet (1977) - Locke/Eastwood cast sparks in corny shoot-em-up (director/starring actor)
The Enforcer (1976) - Eastwood teaches revolutionaries a lesson in third, less punchy Dirty Harry (starring actor)
The Eiger Sanction (1975) - Eastwood's mountain climbing dud (director/star)

High Plains Drifter (1973) - Eastwood cleans up red town in great western (director/star)
The Beguiled (1971) - Intense, erotic Civil War kammerspiel thriller (starring actor)  
Dirty Harry (1971) - Eastwood's great, signature renegade cop character comes to life (starring actor)
Coogan's Bluff (1968) or, Dopes and Hippies, Beat It! (starring actor)  
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - Leone ends his poncho trilogy with certified classic (starring actor)
For a Few Dollars More/Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (1965) or, Return of the Poncho Killer (co-starring actor)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) or, Killer in a Poncho (starring actor)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 174.8 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.49 times its cost)

[The Mule premiered 10 December (Los Angeles) and runs 116 minutes. The story of the real-life mule Leo Sharp was altered some to fit the filmmakers' wishes. Shooting took place from June 2018 - ? in Georgia, including Atlanta, in New Mexico and Chicago, Illinois. The film opened #2, behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, to a 17.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 4 weekends in the top 5 (#5-#5-#5-#5) and grossed 103.8 mil. $ (59.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 15.1 mil. $ (8.6 %) and Italy with 7.8 mil. $ (4.5 %). Eastwood returned with Richard Jewell (2019) as director and returns in Cry Macho (2021) as the starring actor (as well as director again). The Mule is fresh at 71 % with a 6.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Mule?

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) - Lancaster/Douglas nearly burn through the celluloid in Sturges' iconic western

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A star-touting, hot-colored poster for John Sturges' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

In a little small town in the West the sheriff Wyatt Earp rides in and gets mixed up in the local troubles of Doc Holliday.

 

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is written by Leon Uris (Battle Cry (1955)), inspired by the actual 1881 gunfight and 1954 Holiday magazine article The Killer by George Scullin, and directed by John Sturges (The Man Who Dared (1946)).

It opens with a beautiful credits sequence and the wonderful title theme by Dmitri Tiomkin (score) (Rio Bravo (1959)) and Ned Washington (lyrics) (High Noon (1952)), sung by Frankie Laine (Thunder in the East (1952)). Burt Lancaster (The Scalphunters (1968)) and Kirk Douglas (Top Secret Affair (1957)) are splendid together in a radiant production.

Entanglements and romance prolong the film beyond what was necessary, and some of its magic is thus lost. But Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is still an iconic, style-assured western that's as near to becoming a caricature and a pastiche on itself as it possibly can without actually being one.

 

Related posts:

John Sturges:  The Eagle Has Landed (1976) - Sturges' enjoyable, last man's adventure
Chino/Valdez, Il Mezzosangue/Valdez the Half BreedThe Valdez Horses (1973) - Bronson is his own man only in Sturges' good spaghetti western 

The Great Escape (1963) - Sturges' further manly exploits in war-adventure classic 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 2 mil. $

Box office: 10.7 mil. $ (likely North America alone)

= Some uncertainty but at least a big hit (returned at least 5.35 times its cost)

[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral premiered 29 May (New York) and runs 122 minutes. Shooting took place from March - May 1956 in Arizona, including Phoenix, and in California, including Los Angeles. The film includes countless historical inaccuracies. It reportedly earned 4.7 mil. $ on its first run and 6 mil. $ on a re-release; it is unclear but likely that this was just in North America, meaning that the world gross was likely in the 15-17 mil. $ range at least, which would change the film's status to that of 'huge hit' or even 'mega-hit'. It was nominated for 2 Oscars: It lost Best Sound to Sayonara and Editing to The Bridge on the River Kwai. Sturges later made sort-of sequel Hour of the Gun (1967), which is more historically accurate, about the gunfight's aftermath, with other stars. Sturges returned first with uncredited work on Saddle the Wind (1958) and in official front with The Law and Jack Wade (1958). Lancaster and Douglas returned together again in their next movie, Sweet Smell of Success (1957). Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is fresh at 83 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Gunfight at the O.K. Corral?

In the Valley of Elah (2007) - Haggis and a great ensemble succeed with pointed, critical Iraq War homecoming tragedy

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+ 3rd Best Movie of the Year
+ Best Political Movie of the Year + Best Crime Drama of the Year + Best True-Story Movie of the Year

Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron look distraught before a huge US flag, (which is not upside down as in the film), on this poster for Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah

  
A young soldier returned from duty in Iraq disappears. His father, himself a retired sergeant, starts his own investigation, and soon the police uncover his son, who has been burned, stabbed and dismembered.

In the Valley of Elah is the third theatrical feature written and directed by great Canadian filmmaker Paul Haggis (Red Hot (1993)). It is inspired by the true story of the death of Iraq veteran Richard Davis in 2003 as described in the Playboy article Death and Dishonor (2004) by Mark Boal (Detroit (2017), screenplay).
This is a deeply disturbing story. It tells of the muzzy sense of humanity that is a frequent side effect of being a soldier at war.
Tommy Lee Jones (Just Getting Started (2017)) underplays the part of the investigating, unsettled father with credibility, adding much to the film's gripping nature. He is well-matched by Charlize Theron (The Cider House Rules (1999)) as the police detective who involves herself in the case. In the Valley of Elah, - which takes its title from the valley known from the Biblical story of the battle between David and Goliath, - also has stellar supporting actors such as James Franco (Yosemite (2015)), Josh Brolin (Men in Black 3 (2012)) and especially Susan Sarandon (Mr. Woodcock (2007)), who is positively awe-inspiring as Jones' wife, yet some of the best parts are acted by acting amateurs, ex-soldiers.
SPOILER The ending with the upside-turned US flag is right on point; it points to the film's implicit societal critique of US war and veteran policies, which is simultaneously quiet and deafening.

Related post:

Paul Haggis: 2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - Eastwood's Iwo Jima portrayal is captivating and profoundly moving (co-writer)

Watch Theron talk of her involvement with the film here

Cost: 23 mil. $
Box office: 29.5 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.28 times the cost)
[In the Valley of Elah premiered 1 September (Venice Film Festival, Italy) and runs 121 minutes. Haggis wrote the script with Clint Eastwood in mind for the lead, but Eastwood was busy on other projects. He liked the script, though, suggested Jones for the part instead and reportedly helped get the film green-lit. Shooting took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Tennessee and in Morocco from December 2006 - ?. The film opened #35 to a 133k $ first weekend in 9 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #14 and in 978 theaters (different weeks) and grossed disappointing 6.7 mil. $ (22.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain and France, both with 3 mil. $ each (10.2 %). Lanny Davis, the father who Jones' character was based on, has commented in favor of the film. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor (Jones), losing to Daniel Day-Lewis in Paul Thomas Anderson's masterpiece There Will Be Blood. It was also nominated for a David di Donatello award, won a National Board of Review award and 1/2 Venice award nominations. Haggis returned with We Are the World 25 for Haiti (2010, video documentary) and theatrically with The Next Three Days (2010). Jones returned in great thriller In the Electric Mist (2007). Theron returned in Battle in Seattle (2007). Sarandon returned in Mr. Woodcock (2007). In the Valley of Elah is fresh at 73 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of In the Valley of Elah?

The Butler/Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) - Whitaker and Winfrey shine in Dainels' cathartic, insightful historic drama

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+ Best Political Movie of the Year

A refined butler shows a protesting world a brave face from a window in the White House on this powerful poster for Lee Daniels' The Butler

A black boy,s whose father is murdered on the cotton farm in the South where he grows up, is later in life accepted as a butler in the White House under president Eisenhower, continuing to serve under the leadership of the seven subsequent presidents, as the country goes through great changes.

The Butler is a distinguished film written by Danny Strong (Game Change (2012, TV movie), based on the Washington Post article A Butler Well Served by This Election by Wil Haygood (Two on the River (1986)), which concerned White House butler Eugene Allen, and directed as the 4th feature by great Pennsylvanian filmmaker Lee Daniels (Shadowboxer (2005)). Although the film is only very loosely based on Eugene Allen's life, which was different in many ways from the film's butler, Daniels' film comes off as a soberly and thoroughly professionally handled historical biopic drama.
It is led by Oscar-worthy performances from Forest Whitaker (Repo Men (2010)) and Oprah Winfrey (Selma (2014)), who are truly moving as the titular butler and his wife. The Butler is eminent storytelling that should heal wounds and contribute to a deeper understanding of the different experiences and circumstances of especially whites and blacks during the 20th century, - in America as in many other parts of the world.
The Butler is emotionally charged without ever becoming too much. Among its fine supporting actors David Oyelowo (Nightingale (2014)) as Whitaker's rebellious son, Cuba Gooding Jr. (Life of a King (2013)) as his work-pal, Robin Williams (August Rush (2007)) as Pres. Eisenhower, Liev Schreiber (Defiance (2008)) as Pres. Johnson and Alan Rickman (David Harbor (1998)) as Pres. Reagan all give commendable, strong performances.

Related posts:

Lee Daniels: 2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
The Paperboy (2012) - Daniels' off-putting and interesting Florida-yarn huffs and puffs

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 30 mil. $
Box office: 176.5 mil. $
= Huge hit
[The Butler premiered 5 August (New York) and runs 132 minutes. Funding for the independent production began coming together in 2011 as something of a puzzle. The title was changed to Lee Daniels' The Butler in North America, because Warner Bros. made a claim to the title due to a now-lost 1916 short of the same title ('The Butler' that is). Filming took place in Louisiana, including New Orleans, from June - October 2012, delayed from a scheduled August end due to Hurricane Isaac. Among the things in the film that were different in Allen's real life is that he wasn't from Georgia, didn't experience the trauma concerning his parents that's in the film, and that his son wasn't a radical. The film's portrayal of Pres. Reagan's stance towards South-Africa's apartheid is also contested. The film opened #1 to a 24.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another 2 weeks before spending a week as #2 and one as #4 and then leaving the top 5, grossing 116.6 mil. $ (66.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 16.9 mil. $ (9.6 %) and Italy with 7 mil. $ (4 %). Roger Ebert gave the film 3/4 stars, translating to a notch less than this review. The film was nominated for 2 BAFTAs and many other awards and honors, - but not a single Oscar. Daniels went on to work on TV-series Empire (2015-17) and Star (2016-17) as director-writer-producer. He is slated to direct a remake of the 1983 drama Terms of Endearment starring Winfrey. The Butler is fresh at 72 % with a 6.6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Butler?