Insomnia

Insomnia is oftentimes engaging, sharply photographed, and nicely acted despite its genre conventions. It reminds one of the old film-noir movies, and even has a trace of Hitchcock in the subtle way most of the movie proceeds with its psychological-thriller concepts (the sense of quiet creepiness reminds one of Shadow of a Doubt.) Although the simplistic plot concerning a web of lies and murder wrecking psychological sleep deprivation on a homicide detective that is working to find a killer in a Alaskan town may not do much to advance this genre, the film is quite watchable. It is captivating formulism.

In part this is due to the film's leads in Al Pacino and Hilary Swank that are played impeccably, and the real surprise of the main cast is Robin Williams. Giving a very understated and nuanced performance as the killer, Williams reminds one of the low-key villains that have a sense of soft-spoken eeriness to them and crooked logic that makes their manner oftentimes just as scary as a raving lunatic due to them feeling like your average, kind next door neighbors. The acting also complements the mood of the film, as well.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film is shot much different than the dark shadows of those noir pictures. This film invokes its location of the 24-hour sunlight of Alaska with a lot of grays, blues, and well, sunlight. Nolan tells the story with both a atmospheric visual flair, and also shows considerable grasp at tension, even if the audience can guess what will happen. As Nolan may keep things rote, screenwriter Hillary Seitz and he also keep the elements rather grounded with both a sense of drama, apt monologues, and astute dialogue. There is even a quite nail-biting scene that has Pacino pursuing Williams on water logs, only for things to turn rather wet.

If Insomnia falters it is because the plot is only intricate in terms of the central dilemma, and not in terms of its development. Thematically, the elements are rather obvious in the morals that the film examines and at times it is also very Hollywood in regards to its stance on these beliefs. The film is almost too bittersweet in its logic, and since it ends on a moral note this also seems so obvious and predetermined that it comes without surprise or a sense of subversion; this is especially true in the climax.

In the end, Insomnia does nothing to reinvent the wheel, or even add anything to it. Rather, it just spins it well enough that it is both sincere and skilled enough about what it sets out to do. A fine watch, indeed.