Review of Insomnia (2002) by Blake D — 03 Jul 2012
Following "Memento," Christopher Nolan proves with "Insomnia" that he is a gifted storyteller who uses style, mood and composition to illustrate his characters' inner lives and their actions.
With his talent as a filmmaker, Nolan uses images to create a sense of extreme fatigue from the POV of Pacino as his insomnia gets worse and worse such as the use of still camera work, sound being drowned out.
Nolan also uses the beautiful Alaskan landscape to create stark images. The use of lighting is a nice contrast with light being used where dark would normally be the enemy. The performances in "Insomnia" are good with Al Pacino delivering his best recent performance as Det.
Will Dormer. Robin Williams is cast against type as the villian who does not go over-the-top, but shows a little restriction in his performance. Compared to Pacino and Williams, Hilary Swank might be a dissappointment, but her perfromance here is very subtle compared to her Oscar-winning roles.
Compared to the excellent script of "Memento," the script for this movie is good as it explores guilt that wrecks an individual on top of the insomnia that Pacino's character is suffering from.
A shining moment in the screenplay is the boat scene with Pacino and WIlliams where they talk to each other face-to-face. but not excellent. The ending is a bit predictable for a generic crime movie.
This review of Insomnia (2002) was written by Blake D on 03 Jul 2012.
Insomnia has generally received very positive reviews.
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