Review of Insomnia (2002) by Gavin M — 07 Oct 2015

This is a good film but not great. The reason this movie is good besides the fact that Christopher Nolan directed this, but the two performances between Al Pacino and Robin Williams are very intriguing to watch.

Both men are equally great in this so it's hard to say who is better than the other, but the fact that both men are equally great is what makes the movie compelling. Pacino of course is fantastic as always, but what made this movie more interesting to watch was watching Robin Williams play the villain in this.

It's a cold, disturbing, performance that really when I try to think about it, is a role for Williams only. Williams just proves watching this that he is such a talented actor that not only is he great for making people laugh till their stomachs are in knots, or that he can play good dramatic roles as the good guy, but that he can also play a villain, which is what makes him a truly gifted and brilliant actor.

The movie runs it's course taking it's time through the investigation to where Pacino is trying to pin the murder of the girl in this small and quiet town in Alaska while suffering from insomnia following the murder of his partner that he by accident shot while chasing Williams character through the thick fog in this out door woods area in Alaska, but also coming to Alaska at the time where it's just daylight for 6 months doesn't help a person sleep either.

This is a good Nolan film, but it's nothing compared to what was to come later after he made this movie. Which is why I like to think that little did we know at the time watching this that he would bring us such films as "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight," and "Inception.

" Nolan definitely has an Alfred Hitchcock theme to this movie and you can definitely tell watching this movie that the man definitely admires and was most likely an inspiration to Nolan's work.

But if I had to recommend this movie to anyone, I would to just watch it for Williams alone, as he is truly something to watch playing a cold hearted killer in this, and one thing is for sure, he's definitely not in it for the laughs in this film.