Welcome back to Man Hunting, which Waypoint and Friends are working through the

photography of Michael Mann, examining his themes of labor and craft capitalist depression and

dude's rocking. As always I am joined by Next Landers Alex Navarro and beloved Philadelphia

institution, Dia LaCina and today we're talking about Mann's 1999 follow-up to heat, the insider.

This will match him with Al Pacino once again, this time to double story of 60 minutes,

ill-fated expose of Big Tobacco by an interview with corporate whistleblower Jeffrey Wygand.

While the film is dramatized, it is based on a well-documented case with the cooperation of many of

the principal players in the drama, making it a bit of an unusual left turn in Mann's career.

It is the topical riff from the headlines journalism drama. It is also one for which he was

richly rewarded, at least by critics, but not audiences. The film was a break-even proposition

at theaters, but it's all really garnered at seven Oscar nominations and it didn't win even one of

them. So gang, I think I said we started this project. I feel like in Make a Case for just

but any man film being his best work and therefore being maybe one of the best American films ever.

And watching this one right after heat, the insider for me like the insider is not a movie I think

of usually when I think of like favorite Michael Mann films. But coming straight into this one,

I'll be damned if I can't make a case for this maybe being his best, especially because I feel like

each one of his movies that we've discussed so far have like one or two great scenes between actors

that we can talk about. But the insider to me feels like a feast if you are looking for a really good

script with the most lavish casting possible. I'm curious where y'all are at around this movie

before we dig into it blow by blow. I think this was my favorite going into this project.

I think it still might be, like we still have the rest of the catalog to get through. But I think

after having watched it again last night, I was just like, no, this is it for me. This is man firing

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