sorry, I thought of Spike Lee's insider man
this is an old movie '99, and yes, it is based on a true story.It's based on a major article about Wigand, a former chief of research and development at Brown & Williamson in Louisville, Kentucky. Mann and co-writer Eric Roth have crafted their screenplay on the exhaustive May 1996 Vanity Fair article, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," by Marie Brenner.
Brenner's story, and this film, are seated in the facts of Wigand's (Crowe) dismissal by Brown & Williamson. In her article, Brenner wrote of Wigand saying he recalled issuing a 1992 memo for the tobacco company's files -- a memo about his concerns regarding tobacco additives, including one called coumarin. In March 1993, Wigand was fired.
Wigand was subsequently contacted by "60 Minutes" producer Lowell Bergman, played in Mann's film by Pacino.
The movie is based on the 60 minutes series...
