If you think good ol Al Pacino looks knackered at the start of this movie, trust me its nothing compared to how he looks two hours later. Sleep deprivation can really take it out of a guy, particularly when the guy in question is in a part of the world that never gets dark, hes trying to solve a homicide case, and his conscience isnt quite as clear as it should be. Welcome, folks, to the baggy-eyed world of gum-chewing sleuth Will Dormer.
Flown from LA to Alaska to investigate the murder of a teenage girl, Dormer (Pacino) and his partner Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) waste little time in springing a trap for the killer (Robin Williams) in a fogbound wood. But when bullets start flying in the wrong direction, the power pendulum seems to swing in towards our suspect, and an unlikely pact gradually becomes an inevitable one.
A remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name, Insomnia is director Christopher Nolans first project since the ultra-fascinating Memento. Though it cannot match Memento in the mind-boggling stakes, it doesnt try to. This film is more concerned with showing us the central characters handling of his own feelings of guilt, than attempting to puzzle us. Twists are kept to a minimum, and the plot itself is fairly straightforward.
Pacino, as always, is brilliant youll almost feel his increasing tiredness and tetchiness yourself as he goes from one sleepless night to the next (as a nice aside, the film makes a point of making us aware of the time, but its often unclear whether its a.m. or p.m.).
I was less convinced by Williams in his role as the deceptively violent Walter Finch, and Hilary Swank is seldom challenged as rookie tec Ellie Burr. Similarly, Maura Tierney is strangely under-used as the local hotel landlady. But its by no means the first movie thats worth seeing predominantly because of Pacinos presence and it probably wont be the last. You could do much worse than giving Insomnia a go just make sure you get a good nights kip afterwards.