Rating: 
Summary: The best suspense/thriller I've ever seen!
Review: I absolutely loved "Insomnia." The casting was perfect (Al Pacino, Robin Williams). I was on the edge of my seat mostly the whole time! This beautifully made film ranks #1 on my list of best summer movies. I highly recommend "Insomnia."
Rating:
Summary: Good story... good acting
Review: I found insomnia too be an excellently done movie. Some parts of the movie were boring but it mostly kept me on the edge of my seat curious as to what would happen. Also It was interesting to see Robin Williams play the villian in the movie. I thought he did an excellent job and am suprised no one ever thought of that before. Al Pacine unsuprisingly delivers an excellent performance and hillary swank didn't do a bad job herself. Insomnia is a mystery that I would recommend to most people.
Rating:
Summary: Best suspense film of summer 2002!
Review: INSOMNIA starring Al Pacino, Hilary Swank and Robin Williams, is one of the strongest suspense films I've seen this year. Al Pacino as always gives an excellent performance as a big-city cop summoned to a small Alaskan community to investigate and assist on a murder case. He arrives in the midst of the "permanent daylight" season when there is constant daylight, and thus he must adjust to the lack of darkness. The movie's title refers to Pacino's struggle to adapt to this condition, and how it affects his ability to complete the investigation. Hilary Swank plays the young rookie cop, Ellie, who in this small town is eager to show Pacino, the bit-city veteran, that she has "the right stuff" to get the job done. I can say without reservation this is her finest film performance to-date. Her character is a combination of naivete, enthusiasm and unbridled trust in others. These qualities both help and hinder her progress in solving the murder. While she is involved in this murder case, there is an ongoing investigation into the disappearance of young girl that Ellie is also drawn into, along with Pacino. These two crimes heighten the complexity of the movie's plot in an interesting way, as a third character, a suspense writer, crosses both Pacino and Swank's paths in the story. Robin Williams plays a reclusive and mysterious writer who has a connection to the missing girl.
The Alaskan landscape plays an important role in telling the story, and some of the scenes are literally breathtaking to watch. The film's pacing and lighting are also important and are very effective. This is not your typical summer-movie fare, which makes it all the more worthwhile! Highly recommended, especially for the casting, in particular Robin Williams who plays against his comedic personality, to draw forth a substantial dramatic (and frenetic) character.
Two ticket stubs up!
Rating:
Summary: If you enjoyed Memento's surprises...
Review: ...then go and watch Memento again, because you will not find the tricks here that you found in Memento or Following. Nolan has moved on past those editing slights of hand, into an already more honest and profound study of evil and the human psyche. Relative to Memento, this film is much more commercially developed (which tended to make it less personal), and more majestic in its photography. Also, Insomnia no longer focuses surprising you at the end, but instead offers a slower and more meditative psychological look into the ambiguity of good and evil. The twists this time around are much more honest and simpler, and therefore more intensifying, than the manufactured, or rather, perceptually-twisting turns in his previous movies. The twists are not in the plot itself, but in the way that, as the hero tries more and more to extricate himself out of his situation, he actually plummets deeper towards his destuction, aided by his lack of judgment from lack of sleep, and there is a fascination comes from seeing his whole situation twist in on itself. Although I was astounded by Memento, I'm glad that Nolan has decided not to make it into a cliche or tried to eclipse it. All in all, I found that this movie went much farther Memento's boundaries in terms of character and plot, not to mention the magnificent cast. You won't find any surprise endings, unfortunately.
Rating: 
Summary: Insomnia could put you to sleep
Review: This is one of the biggest wastes of a slew of good actors I've ever seen. Hilary Swank: wasted; Christopher Nolan: wasted; the gifted Maura Tierney: about four lines altogether; Robin Williams: horribly miscast. He's about as scary as a kid in a halloween costume and looks b-a-d. There are so many holes in this plot you could drive tractor trailers through them. And there's an ongoing bit of nonsense about Pacino being unable to cut off the perpetual daylight leaking in around the edges of the flimsy window shade. As if a place like Alaska wouldn't have decent shades on the windows! Give this one a miss. It's incredibly dreary. Pacino has insomnia but I could barely stay awake, waiting for something to happen. It's all sizzle and no steak.
Rating: 
Summary: Insomnia
Review: Insomnia By the time you have finished reading this review I hopefully will have successfully persuaded you to see this movie. Trust me it would be a shame if you didn't. "Insomnia" based on a 1998 Norwegian film starring Stellan Skarsgard and directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg is a riveting cat and mouse thriller that doesn't rely to heavily on Hollywood cliché's or big explosions to generate suspense. Police officer Will Dormer (Al Pacino in another outstanding performance) hasn't been sleeping much since he arrived in Nightmute Alaska where he and his partner Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) are assisting a local cop named Ellie Burr (Hillary Swank) in the investigation of a local girl who has been found murdered. This case is just what Dormer needs because back home an Internal Affairs Investigation may end his career and his partner Hap is intent on talking to the Feds to cut a deal. The interesting thing about this small town is that for most of the year it stays light all day and all night so that darkness is never seen most of the time. That and the taunting calls of a disturbed individual are keeping Will Dormer awake at night and it is starting to show. Suddenly just when things are looking up, Will does something unthinkable by accident, an event that is witnessed by someone who then begins taunting him and ultimately blackmailing him. That someone is Walter Finch (Robin Williams in a chilling performance) a local author who may or may not have committed the crime Will is investigating. Eventually, a suspect emerges. Randy Stetz (Jonathan Jackson, Ex Lucky from TV'S "General Hospital") who has a history of abusing the victim who was his girlfriend. Will doubts his guilt, but because of his current problems he has to go along with it in order to protect himself. As the games intensify and Wills conscience begin to get the better of him he really begins to unravel. Things get even worse when Ellie begins to piece together the real truth about what Dormer did and ultimately covered up. Insomnia is not merely a remake of the earlier film but ultimately a re interpretation of the same idea's introduced in the previous film. It also helps that they movie doesn't take the low road and end the movie with a typical Hollywood shoot out. The screenplay written by Hillary Seitz is really good. It doesn't just act like a carbon coy of the original, but stands alone with it's own qualities. The cinematography is really good with scenic Alberta standing in for Alaska. The acting is top notch with great performances from everyone. The movie was directed by Christopher Nolan who dazzled us last year with his breakthrough film "Memento" (My pick as the best film of last year) Once again he shows his brilliance behind the camera. There are not many directors' that leave me waiting in anticipation for their next film. He is that exception. If I haven't persuaded you to see this movie then you are obviously not much of a movie fan.
Review: **** out of five
Rating:
Summary: Insomnia? Well, not exactly.
Review: Insomnia was a good film. My husband and I had looked forward to it for months! Why is it entitled Insomnia? Well, what a disappointment! The movie was a little slow and the focus was unclear, mixed up with the title, but generally the story was pretty good. I do think that we expected a bit more twists and turns, a little mystery perhaps. I'm glad that they didn't go into high tech blasting up of things, just good old fashioned story telling. Don't get me wrong! It was indeed a good movie and a good story, but a bit slow and unecessarily long for the lack of twists and predictability. More mystery would have been nice. A must see? Not exactly, not in the theater, but a good DVD or Video night, while in bed so that if you do fall asleep, it's a good thing. Other than that, it was a good story, just predictable and slow getting there.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, but not everyone's kinda film.
Review: I can't say this is the type of movie I'd usually go to see in the theater, but .. it DOES have Robin Williams in it, so I decided to give it a go. Ironically enough, his role is one totally different from any other roles that he has played. I enjoyed seeing him do something different, but in the long run it wasn't enough for this movie to leave a major impact on me. This is one of those thrillers that is more of an acquired taste. Mind you, I enjoyed the film, but for me, it's more of a movie I'd wait to rent. The cast was enjoyable, and the plot kept you on the edge of your seat, but only if you really dig this kind of movie. I was entertained but somehow expected more. I've never seen the original, so I can't make any comparison. Nonetheless, the friend I brought along with me was incredibly bored. Pity though; I ended up paying for her movie ticket. :-\
Rating:
Summary: Good Cop/ Bad Cop
Review: What makes "Insomnia" such a compelling film is its painting of the Al Pacino character, a Los Angeles detective, in various shades of gray. Pacino is assisting the police in an Alaska town solve the murder of a young high school woman. His character is complex. There is no doubt that he has been a thoroughly professional, hard working and determined man throughout his career. However, he is also a haunted man. Pacino's character, Detective Dormer, is under investigation concerning some allegedly unprofessional conduct concerning evidence in an earlier murder case. To add to his woes, during his work on the current case he does something horrendous, perhaps accidentally, while he and his partner are chasing the possible culprit. Al Pacino gives a wonderful and sympathetic performance as the weary and very troubled detective. Interestingly, his character's name, Dormer, means "to sleep" in French. Robin Williams gives a realistically creepy performance as the mystery writer with whom the dead woman had gotten perhaps too involved. Williams, who is often over-the-top in his other movie roles, here underplays his part, which helps to give his character the right sense of eerieness. Hilary Swank plays a young rookie detective assisting in the investigation with all the Nancy Drew enthusiasm that the part requires. During the film, Pacino's Detective Dormer tells the Swank character, perhaps mirroring his own situation, what distinguishes a good cop from a bad cop. When a good cop can't sleep it is probably because a piece of the murder puzzle is still missing; when a bad cop can't sleep, he is probably feeling guilty about something. It is this complexity that makes this such a must see film.
Rating:
Summary: MYSTERY, ALASKA
Review: The real mystery in this film is not: "WHO'S THE KILLER?", as the trailer would like movie audiences to believe. You see, the phenom director, Chris Nolan, is far too clever for that. L.A. Detective Will Dormer is our protagonist, and he's continually haunted by a host of demons: a questionable past, a severe psychological sleeping disorder, a suspicious internal affairs agent, an apprehensive partner, a maniacal antagonist, a lingering murder indictment, and last but not least, the ubiquitous Alaska sun. Is this a recipe for "Prozac," or what? As such, this film suprisingly evolves into a "character study," rather than "suspense thriller" for this reason: an individual will build character through adversity, or else, through that adversity, that individual will succumb beneath its weight and fail. The anxiety we experience through Will Dormer is palpable, and that is the energy driving this film. That is what keeps you on the edge of your seat. "Who's the killer?"...who cares! (you know the answer to that long before the movie has concluded). "What will become of Will Dormer?" That's the question. That's why this film is so superb. That's real entertainment.
|
