Insomnia (2002)
Grade: C+
Cast: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Tate Donovan, Nicky Katt, and Maura Tierney
Director:Christopher Nolan
Rated R for language and violence


There's no denying that Christopher Nolan has talent. His first full-scale theatrical release, 2001's "Memento," was creative, skillful, and just plain good. So I'm thinking that he has encountered the sophomore jinx one film too late (his other, first, film titled "Following" is available on video). "Insomnia" is suspenseful, but the plot is far too overcrowded and the film just moves at a glacial pace. If you're looking for a cure for insomnia...

Detective Dormer (Al Pacino) is under investigation bu the internal affairs department of his Los Angeles police department. In order to give him a low profile, his boss sends him and his partner Hap (Tate Donovan) to Alaska (the land of the midnight sun) to solve the murder of a young local girl. While there, he meets a secretive innkeep (Maura Tierney), an eager to please cop named Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank), her boss who doesn't agree with the way he does things (Nicky Katt), and a murderous author named Walter Finch (Robin Williams).

Pretty soon, Det. Dormer has not had a good night's sleep in close to a week and is getting irritable and bothered, but he still has to chase Finch around trying to collect evidence. But during a shoot-out in a fog-filled canyon, Dormer ends up shooting Hap instead of Finch. Hap dies, and Finch saw it all and is now blackmailing him for it. And so the story begins, a cat and mouse thriller of the second or third degree.

The film's biggest fault is the internal affairs investigation because it seems as if writer Hilary Seitz is trying to drill it into the viewer's head that Dormer is basically an antihero. He's not perfect as a man or a hero and he has made some poor decisions along the way. But whatever happened to character development?A more effective way of presenting this is when Dormer kills Hap and the atmosphere, mood, and dictate combine to make you second guess your initial opinion. Was it an accident? Was it premeditated? (After all, Hap was going to narc on Dormer to internal affairs.) What irked me most was the dumbing down of the script for the mainstream audience. This subplot could only have existed for the above purpose because their is no closure.

But the film does have some balls. The fact that Dormer is not perfect is a refreshing change from the indestructible Hollywood hero, and though the climax may be a standard shoot-out with absolutely zero tension, it is notable how the film finally ends. The tone of the film is bleak and very somber, but it does get interrupted sometimes. After some very taut mind thrills, the film goes into HOLLYWOOD MODE and comes up with a lumber-crossing chase scene. While the sequence is very creative and well made, the tone would have been more consistent without it (and the final ammo bonanza).

Never fear, however, Al Pacino's here! "Sir Al" turns in a great performance. The film really rests on the shoulders of Dormer's ability to cull sympathy from the audience even at his most non-sympathetic. He is both likable and detestable. Williams is perfect as Walter Finch, he knows where to draw the line when he's doing drama (he won an Oscar for his work in "Good Will Hunting"), but not comedy. This is outstanding work. Hilary Swank is chipper without being annoying, and her work dealing with feelings of betrayal and vulnerability make her performance absolutely fabulous. And somehow, someway, Maura Tierney takes the most 2D role in the movie and turns it into something 3D. One of the most memorable scenes from the film is a late-night conversation she has with Dormer.

"Insomnia" isn't a bad film. It's like a tight, tension-filled spring, but unfortunately it's a faulty spring and it takes way to long to uncoil, and then it uncoils too much.


-Brian Jones, June 2002