Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
84
(34 sources)
84
(34 sources)
-
100
-
100
Rolling Stone
With it's dynamite performances, strafing wit and dramatic provocation, The Insider offers Mann at his best -- blood up, unsanitized and unbowed. Read Full Review » -
100
Salon.com
A marvelous ensemble cast and all the visceral impact and moment-to-moment tension of a fine thriller, together with the distinctive visual style of an art film. Read Full Review » -
100
Christian Science Monitor
Excellent acting, a stirring screenplay, and crisply intelligent directing make this fact-based movie a great human drama as well as a riveting and revealing look at crucially important social issues. Read Full Review » -
91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It's a terrific movie -- intelligent, magnificently acted, highly compelling as a thriller, and downright scary in its implications for the corporate-run world of the new millennium. Read Full Review » -
90
Slate
A big, overlong, and rather unwieldy piece of storytelling, but the story it has to tell is so vital that it cuts through all the dramaturgical muddiness. It's a terrific muckraking melodrama--it will get people fuming. Read Full Review » -
90
LA Weekly
Has the glorious look and immaculate technique we expect from Mann, along with a wealth of superb secondary performances. Read Full Review » -
90
Newsweek
Reveals a chilling reality: how hard it is to tell a simple truth when big business doesn't want it told. Read Full Review » -
90
Washington Post
A well-orchestrated nightmare that keeps you on edge until the very end. Read Full Review » -
90
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90
The New York Times
Is still sleek, gripping entertainment with a raw-nerved, changeable camera style that helps to amplify its meaning. Read Full Review » -
90
Time
The viewer almost has to be a journalist--or a good editor--to sniff out the meat under all the fat. Read Full Review » -
90
Los Angeles Times
A dead-on tale of corporate power, courage, cowardice and how we live. Read Full Review » -
90
Chicago Reader
Almost cagily creating understated drama from high-stakes reality. Read Full Review » -
88
USA Today
At its best, hard-hitting grown-up cinema (rare these days) and a movie blessed with a villain (Big Tobacco) for which all gloves can be removed and heaved into the next county. Read Full Review » -
88
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88
Chicago Tribune
This is a first-class muckraking melodrama: an admirable picture. Read Full Review » -
88
Miami Herald
A big, bold movie that gets at undeniable truths about the way no one, no matter how powerful, is immune from manipulation. Read Full Review » -
83
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80
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80
Dallas Observer
The final product is great populist entertainment and may even leave audiences with a feeling of comfort, however fleeting, in the knowledge that corrupt corporations don't always win Read Full Review » -
80
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80
TNT RoughCut
Overall, a solid piece of film that not only entertains but also educates. Read Full Review » -
75
New York Post
A beautifully shot, well-acted movie that manages to make a complicated, real-life story without much drama feel like a thriller. Read Full Review » -
75
Baltimore Sun
Tells an important story about a story that might never have been told at all. Read Full Review » -
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Few American directors drive this wedge between mind and gut as masterfully as Michael Mann. Read Full Review » -
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Pacino and Crowe are at their best, but the supporting cast also shines. Read Full Review » -
75
Entertainment Weekly
A good but far from great movie because it portrays truth telling in America as far more imperiled than it is. Read Full Review » -
75
San Francisco Examiner
A meticulously assembled dramatization of a grossly controversial moment in TV history. Read Full Review » -
70
TV Guide
An exciting dramatization of the strange events that marked the turning of the legal tide against Big Tobacco, and a particularly dark moment in the annals of CBS News. Read Full Review » -
70
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70
Film.com
The insider's view of celebrity in The Insider grabs the spotlight from the real story of Wigand's courage. Read Full Review » -
63
Boston Globe
A big, dark juggernaut of a movie about a big, dark juggernaut of a subject. Read Full Review » -
50
Austin Chronicle
It's all a little too polished, a little too smug to be ranked up there as one of the great journalism films. Read Full Review »
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