Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
"Don't lose your way".
Matthew Brady - wrote on 09/02/2014
Det. Will Dormer: "Don't lose your way". The story is about Al Pacino as Detective Will Dormer, a Los Angeles Police Department legend who temporarily escapes an internal affairs investigation that may ruin his career by traveling to Nightmute, AK, the remote site of a murder that has the local authorities flummoxed. Along with his partner, Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan), and the small town's wide-eyed rookie investigator, Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank), the exhausted Dormer probes the brutal slaying of a teenage girl who was rumored to have a secret lover. A clever ruse quickly lures the killer into a police trap, but the suspect escapes and a tragic accident at the scene leaves Dormer at the mercy of the murderer, a pulp crime novelist named Walter Finch (Robin Williams). As Finch plays a …
Rating of
3/4
A potent thriller with power packed Pacino
sreekirch - wrote on 10/06/2012
Insomnia is a psychological thriller directed by Christopher Nolan. The basic theme, is about crime investigation. Not in million times I have seen, crime thrillers. But as far as Insomnia is considered, it is a good theme. A perfect scenario is set. A perfect Alaskan location for the gripping tale. So one might be aware of psychological stunner from Nolan in the form of Memento. After memento, insomnia is a film that keeps a good grip.
A crime scene is set in Alaska where a 17 year old girl is murdered. Los Angeles cops Dormer played by Pacino and Eckhart, come to find clues behind murder and catch the culprit. Dormer traps the culprit, but in a gritty fog location, Dormer shoots his own partner. He hides the truth and calls for help. Having insomnia due to this, he behaves …
Rating of
3/4
"insomnia" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/22/2012
A Los Angeles detective under investigation by internal affairs flies to Alaska to assist in the investigation of the murder of a 17 year old girl. I'd been avoiding this one despite the highly promising combination of Pacino and Nolan, mainly because of the highly unpromising presence of Robin Williams. This kind of gimmicky casting can occasionally pay dividends, but usually backfires disastrously. Here, thankfully, Williams acquits himself adequately and fails to wreck the film. It unsurprisingly belongs lock, stock and barrel to Pacino who is as strong as always, giving a very human portrayal of a good cop with frailties forced into an unwanted and unwilling alliance with the murder suspect he is pursuing. For me, more could've been made of the psychological and hallucinatory effects …
Rating of
3/4
Insomnia review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 07/26/2011
Al Pacino plays Will Dormer, a crafty veteran detective who needs to investigate a case in Alaska. The place where sunlight is mostly present, the enemy of an insomniac. Sleep and internal affairs gets the best of the lead role. It also stars Robin Williams (in a very rare role as the creepy Walter Finch) and Hilary Swank as a smart cop named Ellie Burr. Ellie is ridiculed by his team but in the end, has the last laugh. The movie keeps you engaged in the story and main characters, in order to resolve a mystery. The log scene was really petrifying and crafty at the same time. The action picks up when they find the location of the antagonist.
Memorable quotes from the film: Will Dormer: “It’s all about small stuff. You know, small lies, small mistakes. People give …
Rating of
3/4
Very cool, intense, great cast performance.
TheWolf - wrote on 08/10/2007
Detective Will Dormer (Pacino) arrives in Alaska with a lot more baggage than can be carried by hand. He's fabricated evidence in a gruesome abduction/murder case, and he's under investigation by Internal Affairs. His partner, Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) is about to cut a deal with I.A. to protect his own career. This provides the necessary tension between the two men to make the apparently accidental shooting suspect, not only in the viewer's mind, but also in Dormer's.
The principal supporting role, that of the local female detective is also very different in the two films. In the current version, detective Ellie Burr (Swank) almost fawns over Dormer, and that characterisation creaked a little for me. Burr declares she has read all of Dormer's cases (how likely is that, really, since …
