It reminded me of The Pledge, another slow-burning crime thriller with an aging ex-wildman lead who looked like he could do with a nice cup of tea. I thought Insomnia, whilst not matching the sky high standards of Memento, was pretty solid. On the whole, Insomnia is a solid entry into the mainstream genre for Nolan which is worth seeing for many reasons, but audiences may still find its entertainment value questionable. There's no one really of note in the supporting cast, although I did spot Ginger Snaps' Katharine Isabelle as Tanya, Kay's friend, who has an important (if small) role in Insomnia's intriguing and twisted tale. ![]() Hilary Swank, meanwhile, is both radiant and reliable. My one complaint about his performance is that we probably don't hate his character as much as Nolan wants us to. Williams was a more controversial casting choice, but he is actually frighteningly effective, despite being mostly restrained. The film has an almost dominant focus on his character, showing us his weariness and vulnerability coupled with thoughts about how he will pay for making the wrong decisions. Throughout the film, it's hard to judge whether you're supposed to be for Will or against him. Pacino gives yet another fine (if not brilliant) performance, capably showing the shifting sides of Will's personality as he goes through the investigation. However, the cinematography is of a high standard (the Alaskan scenery is wonderful to look at, for example), as is the acting. ![]() Also, while the action scenes do a very good job of lifting the tension (some, in fact, are shockingly violent), the final action scene could have been better edited (Did I spot Pacino's stunt double at one point?). Indeed, some of the turning points are very silly, even though Nolan handles them with subtleness. Another problem is that sometimes the film has to rely on clich¿to keep going. I can recall more than one friend of mine who was puzzled at least once during the film. There are times when it seems that the story is tying itself up in knots. It's possible to occasionally lose your focus either because of dull moments or complexities which you never want to think about getting round. But once it does, the film can be followed easily enough, although it slips into the confusion zone sometimes. The plot is actually more complex than this, and thus it takes time to unravel itself on the audience. That comes through unexpected contact with Kay's killer, author Walter Finch (Williams), who knows what Will has done and now believes that he holds an edge over him. It's not long, though, before he finds a possible answer to both these questions. Now, Will is repeatedly kept awake at night while both thinking of how he will cover this up and how Kay's murder will be solved. While he chases who he thinks is the killer, though, he kills his partner by accident. In Alaska, Los Angeles Detective Will Dormer (Pacino) and his partner set out to investigate the murder of 17-year old Kay. The final result is watchable and never insults the audience's intelligence, but may still disappoint some viewers. ![]() Unlike Memento, though, this time he has a highly-regarded leading cast with three Oscar winners topping the list (Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank). What Nolan is trying to do here is to create an exciting and suspenseful thriller full of twists and turns. I'll admit to having neither seen that film nor Memento, so I came in not knowing what to expect. Insomnia is actually a remake of a 1997 Norwegian thriller with Stellan Skarsgaard in the lead role. With Insomnia, director Christopher Nolan (now a favoured director among most critics following Memento) has moved up to a more ambitious, if not original, film. Submitted by Simon 'Psi' Fallaha on 11:59
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