A good thriller marred by questionable circumstances

Rating: 7/10 (26 May 2002)

This is an edgy thriller that, provided you can get through the questionable premise two street-smart cops are called to Alaska to help solve a 72-hour-old murder (gee, how long would it take to get through the red tape to make THAT happen?) keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Al Pacino is brilliant as an insomniac on the edge (he's come under investigation in L.A. Â– so WHY would they send a cop under a cloud all the way to Alaska? Does L.A. routinely export its dirty cops?). He really does make you think he hasn't slept since he made it to the Land of the Midnight Sun.
Robin Williams does well in a relatively minor role as the author-boyfriend- suspect putting Pacino to the test (but his character seems to know an awful lot about Pacino's past; where does THAT knowledge come from, and why does he know that Pacino is even in town to investigate this murder?). Hilary Swank is good as a novice Alaskan cop not taken seriously by her co-workers (how many cops DOES it take to run this little Alaskan town with so little crime?), but she has some hokey moments, including a real clunky one with Pacino at the very end of the movie.
This film was directed by the same guy who did `Memento' (Christoper Nolan), but don't expect the same genre of quirkiness. Great scenery (filmed just north of Vancouver), a good thriller, but expect to suspend belief through most of it; not very memorable. 7 of 10 stars