great acting, great writing, great directing. Insomnia is the strongest movie so far this year.

Rating: 9/10 (23 May 2002)

Just saw Insomnia and was blown away by it. It showed that if the writing is strong, the acting award-caliber, and the directing effective, then a thriller does not need to be a twisted winding road connected by the plot surprises. This is a straightforward story that, while not neccessarily predictable, doesn't rely on pulling a 180 on the audience. Al Pacino does his usual tough guy thing, with the twist being that he doesn't get to sleep during the six days over which this movie occurs. Robin Williams is spectacular. He has long been panned for doing 'family stuff' (without reason, oftentimes), and certainly does something entirely different here.
I went into Insomnia with high expectations, and all of them were met and exceeded.