Insomnia
With actors like Al Pacino, and Robin Williams you might think wow this is going to be a great movie. Well that is what I thought when I first seen previews of the movie on TV. So I rented the movie and I was kind of disappointed with it.
Al Pacino plays Will Dormer a LAPD detective who is sent to a small town in Alaska to investigate a teenager’s murder. Along with his partner Hap (Martin Donovan) they arrive in town and were met by the local police department. Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) is the head of the investigation and is eager to work beside the well-known detective, but Will isn’t so sure the local department is going to do a great job.
After Will checked out all the evidence of the crime he wanted to go and talk to the boy who was dating the young girl. He figured he was in school at this time, and ordered the officers to pick the boy up at school. Well Ellie told him that it was 10pm at night, and will couldn’t believe it because the light was so bright. Here in Alaska during this time of year there is no darkness. So this was a big and major problem for Will to handle.
When they figured out was the murder took place they began their stakeout. All of a sudden the person they were looking for showed up. The place was a foggy rocky beach house, and the fog was so bad they couldn’t see two feet in front of them. At this time things started going wrong. When they chased after the suspect Will accidentally shoots his partner Hap. When Will realized what he had done Hap is dieing. Hap thought that Will intended on killing him and he told him to back away from him. This was kind of strange, why did his partner think that he intended to kill him? Now Will hides the fact that he was the one who killed his partner and he tells everyone the suspect shot his partner.
Not able to sleep at nights due to the daylight and because of the guilt Will gets a phone call from the suspect and the cat and mouse game begins. You have to wait for the first 20-30 minutes of the movie before you even get to see Robin Williams. Robin Williams plays the suspect killer named Walter Finch. Walter Finch is a writer and he mostly writes stories on crime, and now he figured he would write a story about the killing and investigation. He also witness Will killing his partner so this gives Finch a upper hand.
The rest of the movie is ok, but I felt the story line was weak and slow. Robin Williams doesn’t play a great killer. I enjoy seeing Robin Williams in comedy movies instead of action/thrillers. As for Al he does a great job in the movie, and I’m use to seeing him in these types of films. I did however enjoy the ending, it wasn’t what I figured was going to happen. Then it gives you a question to answer that is, do you think Al really wanted to kill his partner?
With guilt and hiding the fact that he was the one who killed his partner, and trying to figure a way out of not letting anyone else know the truth Will finds himself helping out the killer instead of trying to catch and arrest him. Finch figures he can keep Will right were he wants him since he knows the truth. The blackmail begins as the two of them come together in their cat and mouse game.
Some really liked this movie, but I felt it wasn’t the best movie this year. I didn’t dislike it, but it wasn’t what I hopped it was going to be. Memento was a little off the wall, so I should have realized that this movie might be a little weird too since the same director made it.
Rated: “R”
Director: Christopher Nolan
Executive Producers: George Clooney
Actors: Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, Robin Williams and Martin Donovan
Conclusion:
I suggest you watch the movie because it was a good movie, but wasn’t the best out there this year. It is worth the price and I think others might enjoy it. I guess when I consider a thriller/action movie I think it should be full of more killings and blood and this movie didn’t have either. The ending is great and unsuspecting and Hilary Swank done a fantastic job in her role as the local detective. I feel she should get a award for her role. Now you will understand how they came up with the title of the movie. With daylight all the time Will is unable to sleep so of course he gets insomnia.
The action was great, the thrills were not so great. All the special effects were cool.