==This review contains what people might call spoilers=> I heard 'the Insider' was an 160 minute nail-biter of a true story that feels like half the time. What I saw was an interesting, slow moving character study that felt like twice the time.<br /><br />The Insider is a film about that little incident where the tobacco industry had to pay like 250 billion to the people that it had caused damage to.<br /><br />There is this critical interview in which an expert (Russell Crowe), formerly employed at a tobacco company, declares the executives of that company intentionally added some kind of substance to the cigarettes in order to have, and keep people addicted to the tobacco.<br /><br />We all know the outcome of the story and still the director points the story in the direction where the interview will not be broadcast, which means the tobacco industry will get away with it. How can there be tension when the director tries to make you believe something which simply is not true? And after two and a half hours of manipulating the interview finally IS broadcast. Well what a surprise.<br /><br />The package of 'the Insider' said -thriller-. It didn't work for me that way. What I saw was a slow, 160 minute, sometimes interesting, sometimes plain boring character study with (and this has to be said) some fabulous acting by Crowe and Pacino.<br /><br />Do you want to see this? -rent 'the Insider'. You want excitement -stay away. ***1/2(out of five)