Insomnia Review
by John Sylva (DeWyNGaLe AT aol DOT com)July 25th, 2002
INSOMNIA (2002)
Reviewed by John Sylva
The title of Christopher Nolan's Insomnia isn't necessarily intended to be literal. While the assumed meaning of sleep depravation does factor into the film's plot, the word insomnia embraces an unconventional significance here, referring to the never-sleeping demons that keep one's conscience vigilant at all hours of the day. For some, these demons may be as inconsequential as the heaps of trash that were supposed to go out last Tuesday; for others, like LAPD Detective Will Dormer (Al Pacino), they may be more complex. Nolan's film examines this restlessness or lack of it in several individuals, both pure and corrupt, presenting a crisp, introspective glimpse of life on the trail of a killer. Some might presume Nolan's follow-up to Memento displays similar electrifying originality but will discover that what Insomnia lacks in imagination is more than made up for with distinct atmosphere and ample character development.
A remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name, the drama takes place in Nightmute, Alaska, a quiet town where, according to hotel keeper Rachel (Maura Tierney), two kinds of people reside: those who were born there and those who moved there to escape something else. If so, is Walter Finch (Robin Williams) an Alaskan resident because he was born there-or because he wanted to escape a personal insomnia? The answer isn't clear, yet the question is still an interesting one. Finch, an author of detective novels, has killed a 17-year old girl in a fit of rage but does seem remorseful of the murder when first confronted by Detective Dormer: He even goes so far as to offer that the two men are the same as Finch knows of Dormer's own insomnia. Friends of the murdered Kay Connell (Crystal Lower) speak only of the good things once friend Walter did for her though, including reading her poetry and buying her dresses. This leaves two possible conclusions for the viewer's own investigation of Finch: Either 1) The man's geographic isolation and inner turmoil have led him to the ultimate act of cruelty, or 2) This is a cold, calculated, falsely sympathetic killer akin to Hannibal Lecter.
Questions evoked from the film's setting though are second-tier to the dilemma facing Detective Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank), whose wide-eyed awe of Dormer quickly ends as she uncovers revelations regarding the possibly purposeful murder of his potentially career-ending partner (Martin Donovan). Burr's increasingly forceful questioning of Dormer causes him to keep an increasing distance from her, with the innocent Detective growing critical of the other's character and discovering coverups he committed in previous cases. When she recalls a quote she once heard of his, that "a good cop can't sleep because he's missing a piece of the puzzle, and a bad cop can't sleep because his conscience won't let him," he wryly smiles and drives away. Screenwriter Hillary Seitz wisely downplays the politics of their relationship, enforcing them only in the film's conclusion when the viewer recognizes the moral at hand: Swank's Burr is the sole being here who has the chance to look into a Joseph Conrad-like heart of darkness and turn away.
Will Dormer is one of the meatier roles Al Pacino has taken on in recent years, and the result is rewarding both for the actor's career and for the viewer. The actor's portrayal of his character's progressive degradation is particularly effective, with Pacino's bringing a depth to Dormer that's never clearly defined but is arresting nonetheless. Unfortunately though, Pacino's stellar work emphasizes the weakness in Williams', with the usually comic actor struggling to find a core to his slender character. Pacino is better complemented by Swank, an actress who realizes the importance her part has on the overall impact of the film, fulfilling her rather difficult task of carrying many of the screenplay's themes on her shoulders with seeming ease.
Insomnia is an interesting film because its complete lack of self-importance allows the characters' situations to gradually develop rather than blatantly clamor before the viewer's eyes. Nolan's direction is deliberately steady if not vivacious, often reflecting a scene's mood: the highpoint being a stunning sequence set against an unrelenting windstorm in which Dormer forcefully interviews a friend of the deceased (Katharine Isabelle), the low being Dormer and Finch's esoteric confrontations, where Nolan fails to amplify the thematic importance of the events at hand. The 31 year old filmmaker's curiosity about what compels humanity is apparent as it was in Memento, suggesting Nolan could in time become one of the few remaining directors concerned solely with material that suggests the search for answers is never as simple as black and white-or in Insomnia's case, as icy blue and blood red.
GRADE: B+
Film reviewed July 25th, 2002.
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.
