The Insider review

 Number 387 on the top 1000 films of all time is Michael Mann's 1999 biopic 'the Insider.'

The Insider tells the real-life story of Dr Jeffrey Wigland (Russell Crowe) - a whistleblower in the tobacco industry who alleged that his former employer - the Brown and Williamson tobacco company is chemically altering their product to make it more addictive. He takes the story to CBS producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino.) The two have to defend the story and themselves as Brown and Williamson aim to discredit Wigland.

To start this review, I need to address the Russell Crowe-shaped elephant in the room. While he was good as Wigland, earning a Best Actor Oscar nod, I also think he was miscast. The Insider was released in 1999 when Russell Crowe was 35. The real life Dr Wigland blew the whistle in 1996 when he was 54 - almost 20 years older than Russell Crowe. Crowe was too young for the part and not convincing as a fifty-year old no matter how much grey hair-dye they applied.

While he may have been miscast, he did well with Eric Roth's and Michael Mann's Oscar-nominated screenplay. This was a year before he featured in the film that forever defined his career - Gladiator. After his Oscar-winning role there, Crowe could never again shake off the shadow of Maximus Decimus Meridius. Thankfully, as the Insider was released a year earlier, I didn't need to worry about that here.

Al Pacino was a better choice to play Lowell Bergman. Rather than 19, there was only nine years separating him from his real-life counterpart. Of the two, he was more engaging bringing a quiet intensity and ferocity to the role. As the film portrays, Bergman struggled in defending Wigland's testimony and Pacino portrayed this righteous indignation well.

The Insider also marked a noted departure from the stylised dramas that have so defined Michael Mann's career. It is a very different film to Heat, Collateral and Public Enemies, but Mann still did it justice. He is already a director known for his meticulous attention to detail, but he and Roth took things one step further by sticking purely to the facts. If something could not have been independently verified by three separate sources, it wasn't to be included in their film. This paid off, as Mann directed a well-researched and engaging film.

Overall, the Insider was enjoyable enough. Pacino was great, but I do think Russell Crowe was miscast. An older actor should have been cast instead.

Cinderella Man review

 Number 334 on the top 1000 films of all time is Ron Howard's 2004 biographical sports-drama 'Cinderella Man.'

Cinderella Man tells the true story of the washed-up boxer James Braddock (Russell Crowe) who recaptured his former glory during the Great Depression. Renee Zellweger and Paul Giamatti co-star.

I've said it before and I will say it again. I've never been a fan of boxing films. Whether it's Rocky. Raging Bull or Million Dollar Baby, they're of little interest to me. Cinderella Man was no exception. I don't think it helped that I don't much like Russell Crowe as an actor. He always seems so serious and gruff - even in roles that might require some levity.

Braddock was a man seriously down on his luck. Like many men during the Great Depression, he was struggling to put food on the table, seeking out a meagre living as a dockworker, due to his failed boxing career.  Yet, I wasn't convinced by Crowe's performance. He didn't properly showcase the vulnerability of the character. Even in the scene where he has to go begging for money, I felt little sympathy. Maybe I'm just heartless.

I don't think he had much chemistry with Renee Zellwegger who played Braddock's wife. She was good, but not good with Crowe. For that reason, I didn't enjoy their scenes together. Weirdly enough, I actually preferred the boxing scenes.

These were all more entertaining to watch than I thought they would be - probably because they used real boxers, most of the time. Although this wasn't great for Crowe who sustained multiple injuries while filming.

The film's redeeming feature was Paul Giamatti who played Braddock's coach and manager Joe Gould. Giamatti bought a terrific energy to the role. There was probably a reason why he was nominated for an Oscar and Crowe wasn't - although, it should also be noted that Crowe actively campaigned for Giamatti rather than himself.

All in all, while Cinderella Man might be a heart-warming rags to riches story, I didn't care for it. Crowe's performance lacked heart and he also lacked chemistry with Renee Zellweger. Giamatti truly earned his Oscar nomination though.

Les Miserables review

 Number 474 on the top 1000 films of all time is Tom Hooper's 2012 epic, period musical 'Les Miserables.'

Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is a French former convict who has just been paroled after nineteen years in prison. His crime? Stealing a loaf of bread. But policeman Javert (Russell Crowe) refuses to believe he has changed and is determined to send him back to prison. Meanwhile. Valjean reforms and becomes a factor worker. When one of his workers Fantine (Anne Hathaway) dies, Valjean declares to take care of her impoverished daughter Cosette.

Les Mis is what's known as a sung-through musical. Unlike other musicals, which alternate between music and narrative, Les Mis is all but music. It's a bit like Sweeney Todd. And I've learned that I do not care for sung-through musicals. Watching them are a tedious affair. I know now that music is essential to a sung-through musical, but it was overwhelming. There was far too much singing.

I say singing...they were basically singing lines of dialogue. It hardly made for memorable songs. Obviously you have Anne Hathaway's famous I Dreamed a Dream, but the only other notable song was Look Down, which was sang by the convicts at the start of the film, before being later taken up as a protest song.

The film is also over 2 and a half hours long. It could have been far shorter if a lot of the musical numbers had been trimmed. in many cases, the songs became like exposition telling the viewer what was happening instead of showing them. When Javert and Valjean's paths cross after many years, Javert sings 'a thought stirs in my mind,' which was a rather ham-fisted line of dialogue. I also did not need a whole song where Eponine (Samantha Barks) declares her unrequited love for student revolutionary Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne.) This much was obvious through her longing looks. We did not need a whole song.

As for the performances, they were as good as you would expect from such a star-studded cast, which also included the likes of Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen. Anne Hathaway deservingly won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar despite having a minimal amount of screentime.

I really did not like this film. It was a melodramatic, over-dramatic affair. And I know it was a sung-through musical, but there was far too much singing.