Every now and again I get a review that really makes me think that something special may very well be upon a horizon. This is one of those reviews. Glen and I have been giant fans of Michael Mann's work for quite some time. The visual emotions he weaves on screen often drown me, and I love it. BUT... His coming film on the whole 60 MINUTES/Jeffrey Wigand/BIG TOBACCO deal, well it had me hoping and praying for something along the lines of an ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN sort of film. Seems like it's different, but magnificient in it's own right. Before we get too out of line in love with this film, let us realize that this is... just a single review. A single peep from behind the veil. Hopefully more of you that witnessed this film will let us hear your thoughts, but for now... I'll end this with a note to Bill Mechanic, "Gotcha! Tag you're it!"
Thought you might be interested... I had the lucky chance to stumble into a test- screening for the latest Michael Mann project, an as-yet untitled true life story about Jeffrey Wigand, the guy who blew the whistle on Brown and Morrison tobacco.
Just to sum up a bit, in case you were on Mars a few years ago, the latest Michael Mann project is the story of Jeffrey Wigand (played by Russel Crowe in the film), a high-up official at a Big Tobacco company, who, after being fired, let the cat out of the bag when he revealed that Brown and Williamson was spiking it's cigarettes with ammonia and nicotine in order to make them more addictive. When 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman (played by Al Pacino in the film) stumbles onto this, he dogs Wigand to give an interview for 60 minutes to drop the bomb on the world with one of the scoops of the century. With much coaxing, Wigand agrees... but then 60 Minutes (or more specifically CBS Execs, if you bvelieve the film) get cold feet, and decide to pull the spot fearing a lawsuit from Big Tobacco. Later on, Wigand's remarks go public on the record, and CBS ends up airing the spot anyway.
To me, Mann has always made good films, but there's always been something lacking in each one... Last of the Mohicans had some really wonderful moments (who could ever forget the slow motion hand-to-hand combat at the film's climax???), but as a whole I found it to be cheesy... Heat had some amazing action sequences, high tension, and nail-biting suspense, but was missing nicely textured characterization.
Well somehow, through sheer luck, I managed to pick up a couple tickets to a first test screening at the Twentieth Century Fox lot's Darryl F. Zanuck theater! Security was quite tight, we were searched several times, questioned and probed and poked and prodded, before being allowed into the theater. All this led many to believe we were seeing Star Wars Episode 1... Yeah right... Any true fan knows George Lucas would NEVER test screen a film... He makes his own decisions regardless of what anyone else says...
We were led into the theater, perhaps the ultimate super-cool screening room... Plush chairs, no-stick floors, HUMONGOUS screen... Along the back wall a nice little area lined with couches and cushy chairs... In the center of the theater a bank of computers and what looked to be lots and lots of audio equipment. I was there an hour early, so I managed to secure a nice spot in line, and a great seat in the center of the theater. I started chatting with a couple who sat beside me. We debated as the whether it was Any Given Sunday, or the Michael Mann project...
Soon a gentleman strode into the theater, stepped down below the screen, and announced that we were here to see a test screening of a work print... Explaining that there would be lots of scratches on the film, colors out of whack, and a temp track on the audio. There would be no titles, the film would merely start and then, when over, end... He simply walked into the back of the theater, and, without a clue as to what the film could be, it started...
This film is, without a doubt, Michael Mann's masterpiece. Take all the best elements of the previous films he's made (leaving out the cheese of Mohicans and flimsy characters of Heat), wrap them together, and you've got this film... Even in it's rough cut form, it's clearly one of the best film's I've seen in the past year. The plot, which could have been a jumbled, confusing mess, is tightly constructed, smart, witty, intelligent, and most of all, TENSE. From start to finish in this project there is non-stop TENSION. The film runs a little over two and a half hours, in it's unfinished form at least, and you don't look at your watch once. You're absolutley rivited from start to finish. At times the film's portrayal of Jeff Wigand's paranoia is down-right HAUNTING and CHILLING.
The performances that Mann gets from his actors are absolutely wonderful. I've got to admit, I've never been a big Pacino fan. I like him, but think he's overrated. He's got this over-the-top loud-mouth style that has a tendency to run-rampant and suffocate the other elements of any film he's in(witness Carlito's Way). On the other hand, he's also capable of wonderful subtlety (witness Godfather 1 and 2). I'm happy to say Michael Mann has him playing it subtle in this one. Pacino plays the part of Lowell Bergman, a producer for 60 Minutes with 15 years experience on the show who's never betrayed his sources. Until now. Lowell promises Wigand that he'll be protected if he talks to 60 Minutes... But unfortunately, Big Tobacco turns out to be a bigger adversary than he ever imagined... And soon Pacino finds himself in the position of being a producer who cannot protect his source. Wigand loses his home, his family, his friends... all due to the wrath of Big Tobacco. Michael Mann manages to coax a quiet, subtle (for Pacino) performance out of him... We really feel the terrible guilt that eats away at Pacino, leading us to his logical retirement at the end of the film...
Russel Crowe, who adds a few pounds to his frame, as well as lots of grey dye to his hair in order to play Wigand, gives his most textured and deeply moving performance to date. He doesn't play his usual tough-guy... quite the contrary, as Crowe protrays him, Wigand is a sympathetic every-man who carries a great deal of pain within him. You really feel for this poor guy, who seems to be stuck between the machinery of Big Tobacco and The Media. He loses his job, his family, his friends, his respect, and just about everything he ever worked for in his life... To reveal the truth about the lies and deceit within his country.... In one incredibly moving sequence, Wigand, who has lost everything since blowing the whistle, sits alone in a darkened hotel room, fantasizing about his two daughters, and the way his life used to be.... In a single poetic shot we see a side-view of Wigand... We begin to pan, slowly, ever so slowly, around him, while the hotel room in the background subtley morphs into his backyard, his daughters playing happily... It's an incredible sequence in it's subtlety, you've really got to see it to believe it.... The emotion that Crowe is just too painful to describe...
A special tip of the hat goes to Christopher (Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war!) Plummer, who portrays Mike Wallace.... I don't want to reveal too much here, but he truly gives one gem of a performance, showing us a side of Wallace we've never seen, but don't have any problem buying... I don't know what Wallace is like off camera, but I have a feeling Plummer has captured him perfectly! This performance will bring a smile to your face!
The camera work is a bit of a departure for Mann... It's a lot of hand-held work, shaky and out of focus (or maybe that was because it was a work print). Either way, it works for the film, giving it an edgy, immediate feel that makes you really believe you're right there as everything is happening. Call me an idiot, but I really felt like I was watching a finished film. I don't see very much that can be cut out at this point... I loved every moment of it...
The whole experience was a delight from start to finish. From stepping onto the 20th Century Fox lot, to entering the Darryl F. Zanuck theater... I felt like I was in heaven. I couldn't have picked a better film to have gone to a test screening for. This thing is a serious oscar-contender (if the Academy has the balls to nominate a quality film [for once] with a super-controversial topic). I can't wait to see the final cut of this film... If you're looking for a truly intelligent and though-provoking film, this is going to be it. Hurrah for Michael Mann!!!!!!
Sorry I've gone on so long. Hope you find this of interest... If you put this up, just call me...
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