Rating of
3/4
A potent thriller with power packed Pacino
sreekirch - wrote on 10/06/12
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 strangely. He gets anonymous calls from a person, who says that he saw Dormer shooting. To hide his guilt, he meets him. The guy allows Dormer to change the case evidences and trap someone else. But Dormer is too restless, and decides to put an end to all this stuff and case. How does he do that? Will he agree his fault? These questions are to be answered.
Whenever Nolan takes a film, we know that writing is going to be strong. I felt, somewhat insomnia lacked writing depth. It was fine, but there was no mystery there by the time climax reached. After memento, this film surely misses that level. But thanks to some quick editing and sharp dialogs that drives the film, without getting popped down. So as a whole I would say that insomnia lacked depth.
Nolan brings the whole scenario in Alaska, and using his best photographic expert, Wally pfister insomnia is vibrant. The tone is brilliant and the case studies were just good enough. Evidences and the scene where Pacino shoots a dog and scraps the bullet from its body demonstrates that Nolan is good enough to keep the thrill. A regular showing of blood stained cloth keeps the mystery behind and finally the big climax, is worth the shot. The whole film runs with three main characters and Nolan ensured to stress upon them. The whole film is dialog driven, and Nolan made a clear cut film, with a great selection of cast.
Pacino was brilliant as the cop and also as insomniac. Robin Williams was a smart character that really holds a lot of interest. Hilary swank played a potent detective role. Every other side character had a definite purpose. So in whole, Pacino drives the film with his dialog delivery and smart performance demonstrating his experience. Williams made a clever role. Scenes with Pacino and Williams were the soul of the film. Whenever they were on screen, the film ignited to beauty. The real tense in the film was though missing, but it all clears fine due to stardom performance from Pacino and Williams.
So, finally I would say Insomnia is a good crime thriller. It just lacked a thrilling screenplay. All the thrills and question like who was the murderer? is answered early in the film. The only thing was how and why it was done? Narrative probably was weak. But on a whole, insomnia is not a sleep inducer. It is a good thriller. B+
