Oct 20, 1999

The Insider - THE COMMENTARY

By Joseph Planta

Mike Wallace is up in arms. No, not because he’s 80 and he’s still working. This time, it’s not even about a story he’s working on for 60 Minutes. It’s about the upcoming Michael Mann, Al Pacino film, The Insider. I knew 60 Minutes was the king of news mags, but I hadn’t started watching it regularly, until 1995, when they were planning to air a story on a tobacco whistle blower, only to having it killed by the network brass. It was explosively eye-opening, as well as a revealing cue into that industry. The drama around the airing was played out on the show itself, as well as in the press with Wallace pitting himself against his bosses. The story was a brilliant expose, and it ended happily ever after...almost.

Eric Roth the Oscar-winning scribe of Forrest Gump set to screenwrite the drama for the big screen. Michael Mann directed and he got Al Pacino to play Lowell Bergman, the producer of the piece. Wallace is being played by Christopher Plummer, and Wallace himself is pissed off with the fact that he’s being portrayed in the most unflattering of lights.

I happen to respect the entire CBS News division, and I happen to hold Mike Wallace with a great deal of respect, but I think he’s making a mountain out of a molehill. He’s whining without even seeing the movie yet. I think Wallace is making a big stink, simply because he can’t handle the kind of scrutiny he’s been dishing out for the last 31 seasons on 60 Minutes. Frankly, I cant wait till this movie comes out, and I can’t wait on what Mike thinks. The Insider opens sometime in November.

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An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE .