Rating of
3/4
"insomnia" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/22/12
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 of sleep deprivation and it lacks any of the plot twists we've come to expect these days. It is, however, a solidly written and well crafted thriller with all the visual flourishes we've come to expect from Christopher Nolan that deserves a chance despite its origins as a dreaded "Hollywood remake".
