Nolan's "Graduation Film" Is No Memento

Rating: 7/10 (7 September 2002)

I am a huge fan of Christopher Nolan. I believe he has the potential to be one of the great directors of his generation. But, how do you follow-up something like Memento? Obviously a brilliant effort. Insomnia, not so. A puzzling effort. The biggest puzzle of the summer. It has flashes of brilliance but the final package just has no intensity about it. Anxious yes. Thought-provoking only enough to make the premise interesting, nothing more. Intense no. The establishing of the narrative's dynamic is handled with great care and expertise by Nolan. Both Al Pacino and Robin Williams render fine performances. Pacino will surely get a Best Actor nomination (and perhaps win compared with the other performances I've seen so far this year.) The cinematography was very well executed. The film captures Detective Dormer's increasing isolation, desperation, the effects of sleeplessness on his thinking and professional drive, his inability to shut out light (his sense of guilt), the emerging doubt about his true motivations as he sinks ever deeper into a morass of lies in order to pursue a truth Â…all these elements were superbly handled. And yet, in the end, the flashes of brilliance don't add up to anything special. The ambiguity, Nolan's trademark, works well on a moral and simple plot level but what is the context? Unlike in Following and Memento, there is ambiguity without genuine context in Insomnia. Ultimately, despite the well-told story, it fails to live up to its potential. Still, the elements were well enough developed and directed to justify labeling Insomnia as Nolan's `graduation piece.' He has made the transition from art house to mainstream director. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here. I'd give it an 8. Despite its flaws, Insomnia is one of the best offerings we've seen this mediocre summer.