Insomnia
Movie Reviews | May 24th, 2002
Starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hillary Swank, Maura Tierney, Paul Dooley, Nicky Katt, Martin Donovan, and Jonathan Jackson
Written By: Hillary Seitz
Directed By: Christopher Nolan
This was a remake from a ’97 Norwegian film and I believe the people who wrote the script for that movie, did so for this version as well. Memento’s director and writer Christopher Nolan directed this version of Insomnia and I’m sure plenty of people are looking forward to his follow up to Memento. That’s why I went to see this.
This story is about two California detectives, Will (Pacino) and Hap (Donovan) who are sent to Bumble Fuck, Alaska to solve a murder of a 17 year old girl. Ellie Burr (Swank) is the local detective and helps outs Will and Hap. Will has trouble sleeping in Alaska since the sun never goes down and I’d be losing my mind like him also. The suspect has something on Will that no one else knows and uses that to blackmail him and yadda yadda yadda, The End. :)
I thought the acting was great, the story was great but I felt the movie was slow at times. I know it’s a thriller with lots of drama, I’d just thought there would be something more to it. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is good. Al Pacino is excellent as the detective searching for the murderer. I might even go as far as saying he might be nominated for an Oscar for his performance. Robin Williams was good as well. A lot of people are wondering why they picked Robin Williams to play a murderer. He doesn’t seem like the type. Well the guy in the movie isn’t exactly a serial killer, he’s an author. Mork from Ork plays the part great because he seems some-what innocent, but really isn’t. I couldn’t help but think he would just break out in one of his ramblings and started prancing around.
Hillary Swank goes back to looking like a female again and has a decent performance. I like how in the movie, you, the viewer, felt like you’ve been up for a few days straight and you want to go to right to bed. Not that the film was boring but the techniques and effects they used to make the viewer feel this way. The film gave off this depressing and blue colored style that worked well. I never knew Alaska is either 24 hours sun or night. Weird. They showed Will’s insomnia perfectly, and how he went crazy, and started to see things flash before his eyes. I liked how he was going nuts in his room with the light and taping up the blinds. I do the same thing when I’m trying to take nap, but in the movie this was 3 in the morning.
There were certain things about the movie that were really good and then there was certain things I didn’t like. But overall, I think the film could have added some more suspense in there and made the film a little bit shorter. Other than that, it’s worth seeing if you dig these kind of films.
Bottom Line:
Favorite Scenes: The Fog scene, the ending
Rating:
Running Time: 0 minutes
Overall Rating:
