Insomnia Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)June 5th, 2002
INSOMNIA (2002) / *** 1/2
Directed by Christopher Nolan. Screenplay by Hillary Seitz, based on the 1997 screenplay by Nikolai Frobenius and Erik Skjoldbjaerg. Starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hillary Swank. Running time: 117 minutes. Rated AA for offensive language by the MFCB. Reviewed on May 28th, 2002.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Detective Will Dormer (Pacino) and his partner arrive in a small Alaskan town to investigate a murder. Dormer, troubled by an internal affairs probe, finds it impossible to sleep in the Arctic region, which is enduring its annual period of constant sunlight. Soon, Dormer becomes ensnared in the web of the killer, mystery writer Walter Finch (Williams) -- and young police officer Ellie Burr (Swank), a self-avowed fan of Dormer's, may be caught in the middle.
Review: One of the very first images in "Insomnia" is a stark Alaskan landscape: miles of empty, glaring white ice as far as the eye can see. It's bright; it's lonely. And so the mood is set for a disturbing, involving thriller. "Insomnia" is not a whodunnit; we know the murderer's identity very early on. Instead, it's about a battle of wills -- between Dormer and Finch, yes, but more importantly between Dormer and himself, as his sanity and his conscience begin to crumble in the face of the hostile Alaskan environment and the crime he is investigating. Pacino is superb as Dormer, an intelligent man driven to acts of desperation, events spiralling wildly beyond his control despite his titanic efforts to contain them. Also very good is Williams, whose Finch is creepy enough to be an effective and memorable villain without going over the top; when Finch is being interviewed by the police, it is hard to understand why they immediately perceive him as a possible suspect. Nolan, whose work on "Memento" was so outstanding, is similarly sure-handed here. He does a wonderful job of conveying Dormer's growing sense of exhaustion without muddying the action, and makes great use of the stark and remote landscape. Only a rather routine and prosaic ending lets down one of the more absorbing crime films of recent years.
Copyright © 2002 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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