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Rating: 1/10 (10 April 2003)

'Insomnia' could have been great. The next 'Silence of the lambs' or 'Seven'. Robin Williams' performance is what shines in this movie- Al Pacino doesn't count, his style remains the same in all his recent films. You don't see the character, you see the star Al Pacino. Of course this is not necessarily bad, as it is always a joy to watch Pacino perform.
The movie is starts off in a very common and cliche way. Like another 'Silence of the lambs' clone. But then the real development begins. There is a battle between wrong and right, what is ethical and what is not. Which is something very fresh and innovative. And then comes the ending that destroys it all.
I have to warn you that what follows is a spoiler, even though it might be better to know this before you watch the movie.
It is common among recent thrillers that an unhappy ending closes the story. Because movies without a happy ending have the reputation of being uncompromising, artistic and even realistic, modern filmmakers feel safer to establish a pessimistic way to finish a story. The thing is that an unhappy ending, sometimes is comes off rushed and without proper justification.
Take for instance 'Carlito's Way'. The ending was balanced, even though the hero struggled to escape, he had to pay for his mistakes and the ending came as a redemption. In 'Insomnia' on the other hand, the story was unfolded for us for almost two hours, to prove that there is no line between wrong and right. We worked together with the hero to realize that, but suddenly there is a u-turn in the story in a conventional morality tale way. Everything is erased there. The whole movie was a waste of time, just like in 'Road to Perdition'.
And that's why this movie is worth a
1/10