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Review: Insomnia
Far from home, subject to the endless sunlight of the Alaskan winter, Pacino (Detective Will Dormer) is drawn into a bleak, clever moral thriller. You have to pay careful attention to this movie, and even if you do, you'll end up doubting yourself, much as Pacino does. Against the backdrop of Spider-man and Clones and all the attendant hype, this is an almost refreshingly simple movie. It's all about acting and plot.
Pacino is up there because an old pal is running a tiny Alaskan police department, in over its collective head after a young girl is brutally and sadistically murdered. Pacino swaggers in, spotting all of the things the locals have missed, and is stunned and enraged to learn from his partner Martin Donovan (who plays LA Det. Hap Eckhart) that Hap is about to fess up to IA about various past wrongdoing, including Dormer's having planted fake evidence to catch a child-killer. This testimony will result in any number of killers going free, including the child-killer. It will also end Dormer's career.
Soon after, Hap is shot while the two are setting a trap for the local killer. This is really the heart of the movie -- a searing, twisting and turning moral agony for Dormer who, driven nearly mad by the insomnia he experiences in the long Alaskan day, tries, along with local police novice Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) to understand what has happened, and what ought to be done about it. The fact that it isn't clear -- to him or to us -- what happened to Hap -- gives the movie a taut, gripping edge. Pacino has a tendency to overplay roles sometimes -- as in Heat -- but here, he is at perfect pitch. It's a knockout performance.
Christopher Nolan also does an amazing job of using Alaska as a backdrop from the opening scene, almost as a character. There is one stunning shot after another, putting the story into a particular context. Taking an embittered, wise-ass LA cop and putting him in this misty, eerie setting is a masterstroke, and Nolan makes the most of it. Day by day, Pacino becomes more disoriented fatigued and confused. He also is taunted by Walter Finch, the chief suspect in the local killing, and a creepy psycho who tries to blackmail Dormer into dropping the investigation, or steering it in another direction. Finch claims to have evidence against Dormer regarding Hap's shooting, and the two of them begin a cat-and-mouse game you know can't have a happy outcome.
Williams's doesn't seem to quite pull this off. He isn't creepy enough here -- think John Malkovich or Jeremy Irons. He doesn't get under your skin quite the way he ought to. But that's the only significant flaw in the summer's best thriller by far -- also a refreshing change of pace from the mega-movies and their marketing tie-ins. This is a psychological drama, a portrait beautifully rendered by a master actor. There isn't an explosion, thundering army, or special affect in it. Just a dark, powerful story about life, reality and hard choices, along with some amazing acting, and some of the best cinematography you'll see in a while.
That wasn't alaska! that was port alberni!!!
I think that the fact that they filmed part of it in Canada might have something to do with the evils of globalization. So, we'll just call it Alaska.
If you like this film, please go see the original film which this is based on. http://us.imdb.com/Title?0119375 [Imdb]. A much better film.
Insomnia is actually a remake of the Norwegian movie with the same name. It's set in the northern part of Norway, where the sun always shines. It was a good movie then, and I really hope they managed to capture the same feel in this edition. The Norwegian homepage for Insomnia can be found here (I didn't find an English version).
exhausted, tough, morally confused LA homicide cop
Sounds a lot like his character in Heat, hmm?
DamnKatz said:
This is really the heart of the movie -- a searing, twisting and turning moral agony for Dormer who, driven nearly mad by the insomnia he experiences in the long Alaskan day, tries, along with local police novice Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) to understand what has happened, and what ought to be done about it. The fact that it isn't clear -- to him or to us -- what happened to Hap -- gives the movie a taut, gripping edge.
It is incredibly clear and a very important part of the movie that Dormer DID shoot Hap. Any doubt as to whether Dormer shot Hap makes the second half of the film make no sense at all. This is NOT what gives the movie a taut, gripping edge. The fact that it IS clear and it is used against Dormer is what gives it a taut, gripping edge.
Does Katz see these movies and then do a write-up on the drive home so he doesn't take away from his pr0n time at his desk? Glaring mistake Jon...
It was a good movie tho... 3 out of 4
He was referring to the simpsons episode where Ralph says "Me fail english? That's unpossible!"
Why don't you read Robert Ebert's review. He thought Robin Williams was rather good, and made much of the same points mentioned above. "3.5 stars"
i assume anyone reading this either saw it or doesn't care. not to give anything away, but there isn't much to give away.
I dunno, I think Katz blew it in the third paragraph by talking about Dormer's planted evidence. That's a point that isn't brought up until well into the movie, and is certainly not obvious from everything that comes before.
I thought it was excellent as well. And it really does show you that two hundred million dollars worth of CG isn't necessary to make a good movie. I highly recommend it.
A word of caution: If you go see this, it will make you want to go see Alaska because the place looks so beautiful =)
Far from home, subject to the endless sunlight of the Alaskan winter
I think its SUMMER when the globe tilts that way.
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo! http://goo.gl/J9bkO
I really liked it. I can see why a lot of people wouldn't though. For some reason with me, it really hit the same type of chord as Silence of the Lambs, even though it's a really different movie. I though the acting was great, and Robin Williams is very good as a bad guy, in an underplayed sort of way.
It seems like most movies of this type sort of try to one up previous movies by having a creepier villian. It's sort of a bad guy escalation. This movie is excellent because it gives us a very believable killer. He's not a total psycho, he's not a devil worshiper, etc.
I watch a lot of movies, and I'm a fan of this genre. It's gets old seeing seeing some super freak killer. In movies, anyways, it's lost it's shock value for me. It's much more interesting seeing a killer try to justify what he did, and convince the cop chasing him that they are really very similar. I saw the previews for this, and I was expecting something very hokey from these scenes between the cop and the killer. They were anything but, and made the movie much more interesting.
Anyways, just my opinion,
Dave
Someone's confused. The sun shines continually during the spring and summer months. Otherwise, our heroes would be trudging around in 6-foot high snow in heavy overcoats and there would be no such thing as the Midnight Sun Baseball Classic in June.
I've actually seen this twice. Had to see it the other night because my father wanted to see it for his birthday and drove 150 miles to my house and I didn't want to tell him that I'd seen it already. Doh!
When I saw this at first, I was convinced that Williams wasn't going to be the one to play this role. As a friend says, he plays the idiot manchild all too well. I watch it the first time with the belief that he CAN'T play a serious role without screwing it up and kept waiting for him to go into some Aladin style adlib crap. It ruined it a little because I kept waiting for it and it never happened. It was only after the movie was over that I realized he did well in the role.
Seeing the film a second time, and I'm not sure why films like this hide the spoiler...its not like I've seen any film in the mainstream theatres that I didn't know what the outcome would be just from the previews alone. Noting that, seeing it a second time didn't ruin the supprise of the movie. It instead allowed me to focus on the acting, which as was said earlier IS the draw for this movie. Knowing Williams wasn't going to head into the Idiot Manchild routine, I saw it in another light. He really was a good actor.
Without giving away too much of the 'plot', Williams plays a man that commits cold blooded murder in the heat of 'passion'. He is an everyman, a sort of a slashdot geek that just snapped. Subsistute a loner book author for loner computer geek and ya get the idea'r. He is rebuffed and laughed at and snaps. By the time he recovers, its done and has to do something about it. His role wasn't to be a creepy guy...it was supposed to be a misunderstood loner that wanted to be loved by someone and accepted by the general populace and fails at all of this. Not creepy except because of circumstances. Creepy in the way that the guy that wears the trenchcoat in the computer lab in the middle of a dry summer in the same means a child would bring his favorite blanket with him everywhere.
If you look at it in that sense, Williams is still a manchild, not fully socially developed and reacting badly to situations that don't go the way he expected it to go. He is a little pathetic but also a semisympathetic character and he plays his role well.
clif marsiglio
sonikmatter
This was not Chris Nolan's best film. He'd tried to use Pacino's Insomnia as a gimic, but it was a weak gimic to fall back upon. Pacino's Insomnia was by no means as cool as the short-term memory problems that screwed with our heads in Momento. Moreover, Pacino's Insomnia did not even seem that -important- within this movie. Pacino seemed to function quite fine at work reguardless of the fact that he had been up for days.
All in all, this movie was veeeeery predictable, and that whole "good cop gone bad" story has been played out million times before. Watch Larceny or Momento... they are better.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Williams's doesn't seem to quite pull this off. He isn't creepy enough here -- think John Malkovich or Jeremy Irons. He doesn't get under your skin quite the way he ought to.
I actually thought this was a nice touch. Ever since Silence of the Lambs, criminals seem to be completely over the top and without any sort of pity. Finch tries to get Dormer to believe his telling of the story, and that's impossible if we don't think he's human.
Towards the end of the movie (without giving too much away) Dormer might have to cooperate with Finch. The audience wouldn't stomach this if Robin Williams wasn't someone who seemed like a down-to-Earth guy who just got in a bad situation. I think the comparison with Dormer's situtation is the key here; Dormer is trying to convince himself that Finch isn't such a bad guy.
At the end of the film, however, Williams is pretty damn scary. He's mean, he's creepy, and he kicks some ass. I thought it was an excellent film, and dare I say, better than the original.
But then again, I was forced to see the original in film class next to two stupid people making out and in front of a big snoring football jock.
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I am an expert in electricity. My father held the chair of applied electricity at the state prision.
Why would you think Williams can't play a serious role? Have you ever seen Dead Poets Society or Good Will Hunting? He definitely doesn't look like he can act calm and remain serious for long when you see most things he's done (or any interview with him), but those movies above (as well as Insomnia) prove that he's capable of it.
Yay! I agree. I dislike Robin Williams in almost everything I see.
I don't think he's a bad person, I just enjoy very little of his work. I'm glad he gets good roles and he makes a good buck, but for some reason he's always Robin Williams, beard or not.
Robin Williams doesn't necessarily ruin movies, and I've enjoyed some movies where he isn't the lead. For instance, I don't think Williams negatively impacted Insomnia (although I didn't enjoy it as much as others... it was a little dull and the plot could have used a little refinement.)
Then again, I feel almost the same about movies with Al. I liked "Dog Day Afternoon" tho. Hum, wasn't Robin Williams in that too? Er, no.
What I want to know is, how does this film re-examine traditional cultural myths in the post-9/11 world?
... boobs, no masturbation jokes, and apparently has a bit of appeal to individuals who think.
Katz actually *got* this movie, which to me is either a credit to the screenwriter (for using small words) or the director (for keeping the moviegoer's attention carefully focused by using conspicuously-placed shiny objects in each frame.)
Actually Katz is probably a thoughtful, intelligent fellow -- I shouldn't be so hard on him. It shocks me: just when I thought I completely understood his taste in films he comes along and likes a movie that somehow manages to avoid ten explosions per minute, one gratuitous segment focusing on jiggling female anatomy, and booger/fart/erection jokes.
Perhaps Satan *is* ice skating today.
Get off my virtual lawn, you damned virtual kids!
Heh!
No confusion on my part. Even his 'serious' films haven't been what I call acting. This is not to say that I disliked these roles (and I've not see GWH...didn't know he was in that) its just that he played variations of his standard shtick. DPS was as far away as I'd seen him get and it was a good movie, but it was still Williams being Williams and not more more than that....Ohhhh He's a Lit Teacher Now! Ok, he's just Williams pretending to be a lit teacher...not much of a stretch...
This one seemed a little more than that...nothing of what we've come to expect from the man. Yes, we could probably say the same for Pachino...he is playing the same damn role that he always plays...but it works here the same way that it does when Williams plays the Geni or whatever else. I don't know if I wouldn't have the same expectations...if he played in a childrens movie as I would Williams in a grown up one (even the ones Williams does for us GrownUp Children).
Blah...its a good film...I'm glad I saw it a second time...
clif
> He's just too much a nice, wacky guy to come across as a killer I guess.
Only if you've never watched his vast body of work in "serious: films which typically have a smaller audience than the mainstream releases, with a few exceptions.
Frankly, I think Robin Williams is one of the best actors out there, with one of the widest ranges, and definitely with a gift for ad-lib. This is supported by a look at his IMDB entry: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Williams,+Robin reveals a career topheavy with comedy, but containing some great dramatic roles as well.
One of my favorite films ever (despite its mediocre reviews thanks to its slow pace and serious subject-matter) is *Being Human*, which stars Williams as several different characters across several different time periods, from prehistory to the present. Each one is an Everyman who faces a dramatic challenge, often as a sad and sympathetic character. His performance is dead-on in all those roles, a feat few actors could manage. It's one of those films that "average" people think is boring and hate, which is why it's off most people's radar--too philosophical for the masses since it's about "ordinary lives."
In *Awakenings* he injected a lot of life with his deliberate expressions and mannerisms into an otherwise fairly dull fact-based character. *Good Will Hunting*, *Jakob the Liar*, and a few others also get the benefit of Williams' talent as a non-comedic actor.
Let's not forget his "mixed" roles either, where he manages to blend comedy and seriousness, even pathos, successfully like few actors could--*Dead Poets' Society*, for example, and *Patch Adams*.
His filmography is of course topheavy, because he's a naturally hilarious guy and that's what got him started in show business. But he's proven himself as a great dramatic actor as well, in few roles which nonetheless had impact.
Chasing Amy
(We all chase Amy...)
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws"-Tacitus
Only thing that really bothered me about Insomina was Al Pacino's fingernails... GAH! They have medications for that now, man, might want to check into it. I'm sure you can afford whatever they charge, just get something done before those nails completely pop off and you have to pay a guy to pick up paper for you.
== Paul Rickard, Editor of The Microsoft Boycott Campaign ====
EVERY movie has special effects these days. They might not be special effects in the traditional "blow up a spaceship" sense, and in fact you might not even recognize the special effects, but they WILL be there. Take a look at the credits, and I'm sure you'll see the special effects people listed. The effect might be as mundane as removing the reflection of the camera-crew from a window, or adding a sparkle to a glass of wine, but it will be a special effect nonetheless.
I wonder if the Norweigan original does a similiar wordplay on the cop investigator's name.
- Sam
The secret to enjoying Slashdot is to realize that it should not be taken too seriously.
karma to burn here:
writers basically get crapped on when it comes to films. The movie looks good? well the cinematography folks obviously choose location and great camera setups. Is the movie taunt and well paced? Always the hallmark of a good director. Characters? Oh man, Pacino created an awesome character. How's the story? well it was produced by so and so, and he's always good. (unless so and so is jerry bruckheimer, in which case it's a game of spot the errors)
But if the movie stinks, people ask "Who wrote that flaming pile of poo?" quick (without hitting IMDB) who wrote the last best pictures? or even your favorite movie.
if the writer does something clever, and it stays in the film, be thankful. Hollywood would rather take a character, no matter how one dimensional, and still shove it into a cliche rather than give him depth. see: Jack Ryan. Pretty basic character, and getting dumber every movie.
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
Who would anyone in Hollywood think, even for a moment, that they need fresh ideas, when they're making quite enough money already.
-- SIGFPE