Insomnia Cinema

Paul Greenwood reviews

Insomnia

• Cert:
• Running time: 118 minutes
• Year: 2002
• Released: 30th August 2002
• Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1
• Rating: 8/10

Director:

Christopher Nolan

(Following, Insomnia, Memento)

Cast:

Detective Will Dormer: Al Pacino
Walter Finch: Robin Williams
Detective Ellie Burr: Hilary Swank
Rachel Clement: Maura Tierney
Hap Eckhart: Martin Donovan
Fred Duggar: Nicky Katt
Chief Nyback: Paul Dooley
Randy Stetz: Jonathan Jackson
Tanya Francke: Katharine Isabelle

When is Hollywood going to grow some balls?For the third time this year (followingTraining Dayand Minority Report) an otherwise outstandingpolice thriller is compromised by a morally unambiguous resolution just soJoe Shmo from Idaho doesn’t get a headache trying to figure out who’s goodand who’s bad. What is the point of teasing the audience with the promiseof a challenging moral dilemma, then spelling The “Right Thing To Do” out tous in big black and white letters instead of letting us decide forourselves? Did the makers of these films never watchSe7enor The Wicker Man or the director’s cut ofBlade Runner?Did they not realise from thesehow satisfying a film can be when the usual “good guy wins, bad guy loses”formula is turned upside down? Insomnia had the potential to join the abovementioned and emerge as a masterpiece. Instead it has to settle for simplybeing very good.

Insomnia is a remake of a 1997 Norwegian film of the same name, with theaction now taking place in a small town in Alaska. When a young girl isfound beaten to death, two big city cops (Pacino and Donovan) are broughtin from Los Angeles to investigate. They arrive under a cloud, however, withtheir department under scrutiny by Internal Affairs over possibleinvestigational irregularities and evidence tampering. It transpires Hap(Donovan) is ready to cut a deal with the IAD to protect himself and Dormer(Pacino) is far from happy with this. This conflict serves as an intriguingbackground to the events that follow as, during the course of the murderinquiry, a tragic incident leaves an officer dead.

On to the scene comes Williams‘ character, Finch and he soon revealshimself to Dormer to be the girl’s murderer. But Finch has the upper handon Dormer as he witnessed the incident that lead to the policeman’s death.Were Dormer to arrest him, he would reveal the truth – a truth with farreaching implications. So begins a cat and mouse battle of wills betweenDormer and Finch.The other kicker is that in Alaska during summer, it nevergets dark. Partly because of this – and partly because of his own demons -Dormer can’t get any sleep. After a couple of sleepless nights, this beginsto have a serious effect on his physical and mental well being, and hisability to do his job properly.

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There’s a lot to admire in this film. Stunning cinematography, anintelligent if eventually formulaic script, and outstanding performances.Williams, clearly keen to re-establish himself as a respected actor afterreceiving heavy criticism for his recent sentimental slices of nonsensesuch as Bicentennial Man and Patch Adams, is excellent in what is obviouslyhis best performance sinceGood Will Hunting,and possibly his best ever.

Pacino however, is simply mesmerising. Many of his recent performances havebeen based around a lot of shouting and arm waving, but here he delivers arestrained, subtle portrayal of a good cop full of wisdom and the bestintentions, caught up in events spiralling out of his control. There areseveral moments when he displays an intensity not seen since the first twoGodfather films, and one look in particular that he levels at Hap thatchills the blood. Credit must go to director Nolan for keeping him on atight rein and for following up his much admired Memento with anotherabsorbing, if ultimately flawed, crime drama.

Review copyright © Paul Greenwood, 2002.E-mail Paul Greenwood

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