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Thriller, Crime, Drama 118 min R
Rotten Tomatoes92%Metacritic78IMDb
A tough cop. A brilliant killer. An unspeakable crime.
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
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Bleak, meticulous, overwhelming and grave.
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Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Taste Buds's numbers.
A good cop can't sleep because he's missing a piece of the puzzle. And a bad cop cant sleep because his conscience wont let him. Insomnia is directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Erik Skjoldbjærg and Nikolaj Frobenius (1997 screenplay). It stars Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Maura Tierney, Martin Donovan and Nicky Katt. Music is scored by David Julyan and cinematography by Wally Pfister. It's a remake of a 1997 Norwegian film of the same name. LAPD detective Will Dormer (Pacino) and his partner Hap Eckhart (Donovan) travel to the remote Alaskan town of Nightmute to aid the local cops investigating the savage murder of a teenage girl. But Dormer leaves behind an Internal Affairs Investigation that gnaws away at him, and when a potential bust of the murder suspect goes tragically wrong, his conscious gets attacked on two fronts. By lack of sleep and by the killer himself. It's a House of Cards. Viewing from afar it's easy to be cynical and suggest that Insomnia is just an American remake cash in. Bigger budget, bigger stars and directed by an indie darling of the critics moving into the big league. While on the surface the plot looks to be another in a long line of
Read the whole review on TMDBDefinitely not Nolan's best but probably my favourite (at least tied with 'Batman Begins') because I love the Norwegian original so much AND the subtle changes Nolan made with it, as well as what the three stars (Al Pacino, Robin Williams--in his first villainous role, I believe, and Hilary Swank--in probably my favourite performance of hers, next to the downright decadence and naughtiness she displayed in 'The Black Dahlia') bring to the table here. I greatly enjoyed the five short extras on my DVD (a double-sided disc I bought years ago that has 'The Devil's Advocate' on the other side, yet unwatched): a conversation/interview of Nolan with Pacino; 'Day for Night: The Making of...'; 'In the Fog' (which interviewed cinematographer Wally Pfister); Nathan Crowley: production designer; and 'Eyes Wide Open' (which interviewed sleep disturbance experts), which thankfully I viewed before I watched the movie, to enhance my experience. Greatly recommended to fans of contemporary crime thrillers, regardless of whether you watched the Norwegian original or not. There are enough differences to still make it worth your while as a cinephile.
Read the whole review on TMDBCaptures some human sentiment incredibly well, coupled with the unique setting and great acting, this makes Insomnia a good watch, worth every minute of its two hour runtime. That said, I was not as enamoured by it as others might be. Perhaps if was unaware of what Nolan, Pacino or Williams are capable of at their highest levels, or if I didn't realise five minutes before the end that I'd actually seen it as a kid and could exclusively remember the ending, then it would have had a higher impact on me. But even taken for me as is, _Insomnia_ is still a very solid bit of filmmaking. _Final rating:★★★ - I personally recommend you give it a go._
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“Is Al Pacino the best thing in Insomnia?”
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33 profiled raters. Loved most by The Provocateurs; disliked most by The Formalists.
If you loved this film, the television, the book, the music, the game.
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