A very good movie with only one little flaw ...

Rating: 9/10 (10 February 2003)

On the whole Insomnia is a very well done movie. I enjoyed the story, the way it is told and how it develops. The dialogs are kept short. There are a lot of memorable quotes. The cast is very well chosen. Al Pacino is brilliant in his way as always. I also want to mention the performance of Hilary Swank. She is very convincing in her role. Robin Williams also gives a great performance (though I enjoyed his performance in 'Good Will Hunting' more). There is only one scene in this movie which isn't quite so convincing. It's how Detective Dormer (Al Pacino) obtains that .38 bullet. First, you can't muffle the blast of a .38 gun shot with just a towel. The only result would have been black holes in the towel. Second, a .38 bullet fired from that distance would have gone right through the body of such a small decaying dog. No way to recover that bullet with such a tiny pocket knife. Someone who doesn't know about shooting and firearms might not be bothered by this, but I would prefer that scene to be done differently. A dead deer or elk by the road might have been a better option. Nonetheless it is a very good movie and worth having on DVD, because it is worth watching more than once for all its nice details. My rating is 9/10.