Synopsis

After losing his job at a tobacco company, research scientist Jeffrey Wigand is approached by 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman. Wigand agrees to reveal what he knows about the industry's practices, but faces intimidation, legal threats, and pressure from both his former employer and the news network. Bergman must fight to protect his source and the story.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is based on Marie Brenner's 1996 Vanity Fair article "The Man Who Knew Too Much," which examined the real-life tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand and the CBS news controversy surrounding his interview.

• The deposition scenes were filmed in the actual Jackson County, Mississippi, courtroom where Wigand gave his deposition.

• Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore appears as himself in the lawsuit-related scenes.

• Eric Kluster and Helen Caperelli were fictionalized versions of CBS News president Eric Ober and CBS general counsel Ellen Kaden. Earlier drafts reportedly used their real names.

• Principal photography took place from May 20 through October 9, 1998. Locations included Louisville, Kentucky; Jeffersonville, Indiana; Big Bear Lake, California; and Baalbek, Lebanon.

• The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. It became the first of three consecutive films for which Russell Crowe received a Best Actor Oscar nomination, followed by "Gladiator" and "A Beautiful Mind."

• The television version was extended beyond the theatrical cut and broadcast over two nights. Michael Mann supervised that edit.

• During filming at a school, Crowe reportedly startled young performers by screaming and pulling at his hair while wearing a realistic gray wig, then revealed the prank when the crew began laughing.