rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 2002
Directed by Christopher Nolan; produced by Broderick Johnson, Paul Junger Witt, Andrew A. Kosove, Edward McDonnell; screenplay by Hillary Seitz
Starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan, Nicky Katt, Maura Tierney
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
'Insomnia' is the American remake of a film from Norway. When I hear that
they make American remakes I always get a little disappointed because most
of the time they spoil the original film. For me 'Vanilla Sky' and 'The
Vanishing' are examples. In 2002 I was not disappointed, both 'The Ring' as
this version of 'Insomnia' are pretty good.
To catch a murderer you have to do some things not allowed yourself, or so
thinks Will Dormer (Al Pacino). He and his partner are send to Alaska where
you have daylight all day. A girl is brutally murdered and they have to lead
the investigation. Almost having the murderer Will accidentally kills his
partner. Because he has a motive to kill his partner (I will not reveal the
motive) he lies about it and he changes evidence in the investigation so
that won't be discovered. The murderer (Robin Williams) is a witness of his
killing and he claims that he didn't want to murder the girl either. They
have the same problem.
The story is intelligent, the performances are good (Hilary Swank and Maura
Tierney also star). Robin Williams, most of the time the funny guy, does a
surprisingly good job. The way the insomnia of the Pacino-character is
handled is very well done. The beautiful nature of Alaska is brought to the
screen very good as well. All together this is a nice thriller.