Insomnia Review
by Mark R. Leeper (markrleeper AT yahoo DOT com)June 5th, 2002
INSOMNIA
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Al Pacino plays a once-great LA detective,
now in decline, investigating a murder in a small
Alaska town near the Arctic Circle. Unable to adjust
to the midnight sun, he loses sleep and begins making
mistakes. The atmospheric setting and the character
development are better than the mystery story itself. Rating: 6 (0 to 10), +1 (-4 to +4) Spoiler warning:
Some information is revealed in this review, though
none not revealed in the film's trailer.
There has been a murder in Nightmute, Alaska, and Will Dormer (played by Al Pacino) and his partner Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) are on loan from the Los Angeles police department to help in solving the crime. This means flying over hundreds of miles of trackless Alaskan wilderness just to get to the town. The two policemen already have a strained relationship having both run afoul of the police department's Internal Affairs office. Now they will have to spend some time together in one of America's most dismal towns. They are promised that in Alaska they have to worry much less about "public relations," but Alaska has its own way of making the case more difficult. This being summer the sun is not going to set for several months. This is going to make adjusting very difficult. Though Dormer has a reputation for being a superstar cop, he is getting old and tired from a long career. He is not nearly as tired as he will be since he discovers his body will not adapt to the unending sunlight. He is in a constant half-light, half awake and half asleep, and it is already beginning to affect his judgment. By the time he knows who the killer is (Robin William), he will be unable to act. Instead, he will form an uneasy and unwelcome relationship with the killer.
The film is only in small part a murder story. It is at least as much a character study of two men, each torn by positive and negative impulses. One is the hunter and one is the prey though even those roles are not well defined and reverse. The story takes place under the oppressive pall of the Alaskan wilderness where the colors of nature are shades of blue and gray. The sky that is never dark is also never bright. Both men live in a moral as well as physical half-light.
How people behave in this moral half-light is director Christopher Nolan's subject. Pacino's ironically-named Dormer is a man exhausted before he ever gets to Alaska. Nolan previously directed MEMENTO, another film in which the main character suffers a mental incapacity. At one time he was enthusiastic and brilliant about a job he considered important. When he questions a suspect we can see a little of the tricky electricity that powered his early career. We feel that the energy has gone out of him. The viewer remembers high-powered performances form Pacino in films like AND JUSTICE FOR ALL and though this is his first time playing Dormer, the energy he spent in those roles help define this character. He is a man who has cut corners before and continues to do so. Couple that fatigue with some sleepless nights and Dormer's once sharp mind is dulled.
Hilary Swank is a young detective who idolizes the famous Dormer and is emulating his early career. She is a young version of him with the energy and ideals he once had and now desperately lacks. Robin Williams plays a killer. While there is a comment that his character might become a serial killer, he is a refreshing change from the super-criminals we have gotten in films since Hannibal Lector. His Walter Finch is bright but makes mistakes. Now, though he is decent, he wants to avoid the consequences of one serious mistake. Williams is cast very much counter to type, but it still is no surprise that he is quite believable in the role. Good standup comics frequently make good and versatile actors. One can picture Williams in the future being very good in a variety of roles.
Like MEMENTO, the film is more interesting for the characters and the situation than for it being a thumping good murder mystery. I rate it a 6 on the 0 to 10 scale and a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
[email protected] Copyright 2002 Mark R. Leeper
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
