Al Pacino is so tired he can't sleep

Rating: 7/10 (17 July 2004)

Two policemen, Will Dormer (Al Pacino) and Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) are sent in Alaska to make an investigation around the murder of a high school girl. Convinced that the murder was committed by a serial killer, Dormer decides to organize a police raid in an isolated house where seems to live the suspected murderer. But he (unintentionally?) kills his team mate. Fortunately, no-one saw him and because he doesn't want to be suspected, he gives a coherent reason about Eckhart's death which enables him to be saved. But the real murderer (Robin Williams) saw him killing Eckhart and starts to blackmail him.
It is from this reversal of situation, the cop dominated by the killer, that "Insomnia" draws its originality. Here, several factors (that play in favor of Williams to the detriment of Pacino) explain this: Al Pacino's sickness: insomnia which prevents him from sleeping and especially the scenery where the action takes place, Alaska. An apparently peaceful land at least for its inhabitants but dreadful for foreigners, especially for Al Pacino. Indeed, the fact that it is always daylight only makes his sickness worse and makes him vulnerable in Williams' eyes. It is useful to add that Al Pacino is dazzling as an insomniac cop and the director Christopher Nolan emphasizes on his progressive weakening throughout the movie. On another hand, it is not a coincidence if his name is Dormer. It means "sleeper" in French so I think that only French people who watched this movie can appreciate the irony.
With all that has been previously said, "Insomnia", according to me partly renews the detective movie. The result gives a solid and carefully constructed thriller. The sole shortcoming Christopher Nolan and his crew did is having hired Robin Williams to act the role of the killer. Throughout his career, he has been hired so many times in good roles and here, it is difficult to see him in the shoes of a criminal. Moreover, when he appears on the screen, the movie becomes quite talkative. These handicaps stop the movie from ranking among the greatest thrillers ever made but all the same, "Insomnia" constitutes a very good moment.