Best movie I've seen this year, but....

Rating: Null/10 (7 September 2002)

It is difficult to sum up the story of a movie this filled with surprises and originality, so I will just give the basics: It starts out as a simple murder investigation of a teenage girl, with some foreboding knowledge of internal affairs investigations against the main detectives, who are flown in from California. The story takes place in a picturesque town in Alaska where the sun never sets during the summer.
There is much more to the story than that, and it truly is an imaginative piece of cinema. I am now very interested in seeing the original that inspired this remake, because of the many qualities of the story. Perhaps the best part of the film is its dry humour, the audience I watched it with laughed out loud several times during this movie which is supposed to be a dark thriller. The story is unpredictable, and exciting, and as it develops it becomes darker and darker in this light filled setting, which brings so many contrasts with it. A dark story set in everlasting light? A psychological thriller about a brutal violent murder that has a sense of humour? The elements of novelty are what makes this film so special in this year of sequels and boring movies.
But, for me, it appeared there were two plotholes that prevented me from giving this movie 9 or even 10 out of 10 marks. Firstly, in a crucial scene, fog appears so suddenly and virtually out of nowhere that I found it unrealistic. Secondly, .... well, I cannot describe it without giving the ending away, so I won't.
All in all, a great movie that is, while different from Memento, similarly refreshing and enjoyable. The cast should also be congratulated for their performances - Al Pacino brings across the increasing tiredness very convincingly (and several people felt tired and exhausted themselves when leaving the cinema, being almost infected by the cinematography to feel as tired as the main character), Robin Williams is refreshingly menacing while still retaining his humour, which worked surprisingly well. And Hillary Swank performs well, too, but the script does not give her quite as much material to work with.
8/10