Favorite Scene from a favorite movie

I love it when a good thing happens

One of my favorite movies is Michael Mann’s “The Insider.”

I largely love it because it celebrates a person doing a good (easily argued up to great) thing. He, Russell Crowe’s character, does it in the face of multiple adversities: his character smeared, his family disintegrated, potential jail time and a potential counter-lawsuit.

Everybody knew smoking killed. The general public knew it, the Government knew it, the tobacco companies knew it. But nobody knew about the addictive aspect of cigarettes.

It took a whistleblower to reveal that hideous aspect.

It doesn’t hurt that this scene was composed by a master film-maker and includes fabulous actors, but what makes it truly resonant is the aspects of the story it touches:

• There’s the profound way the 60 Minutes segment hits home with “common” airport denizens.

• There’s the tender moment between Crowe and his girls.

• There’s the way Crowe struggles to then accepts the fact that he is proud of what he has done.

Why is he proud? Why does this movie stay with us?

Because he did a very good thing, and the movie is about celebrating that.

God I love that scene.