How Do You Sleep?

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 2002)

The world for Will Dormer is dark, yet he is in the most lit up place in the world for the time of year. Will is in Nightmute, Alaska where in the summertime the sun never sets since it's so far up North. Which leads to Will's suffering of insomnia, or is it the conscience that is inside of Will which is keeping him awake?
INSOMNIA is the remake of the 1997 classic that was directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg and starring Stellan Skarsgard. The plot is pretty much the same for both movies. For this version, a murder of a teenage female in the quant town of Nightmute has shocked and stunned the residents. Los Angeles detectives Will Dormer (Al Pacino) and Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) are brought in to further investigate the murder. Will is very popular with the law enforcement in Nightmute by being an aquaintance of Chief Charles Nyback (Paul Dooley) and as a object of admire and inspiration by one of the detectives, Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank). While in Nightmute, Will is facing problems internally with a internal affairs situation back in L.A. where his partner Hap might testify against him. But the real trouble begins when a little known detective novelist, Walter Finch (Robin Williams) begins playing mind games with Will which adds to his insomnia and loss of sanity.
INSOMNIA is a excellent and slightly better remake than it's '97 original. I watched my birthday present Criterion DVD of the original a few weeks ago in anticipation of the remake. With this version I was excited to compare/contrast the two films. What made me enjoy this version more is the acting, cinematography, and directing.
First, the acting by the actors is outstanding. Pacino gives his best acting performance since THE INSIDER. He shows the pain and insanity that poor Will is going through with his expressions and dialogue. One great scene has Will noticing every little sound being made while at the police station. Will is very similar to Pacino's Vincent Hannah from Michael Mann's classic HEAT. A character that knows what he is doing, but has the conflict on doing the right thing.
Williams does his best acting job since THE FISHER KING giving a new face to terror. Williams character of Finch is not loud, obnoxious and over the top like most modern villians (Denzel Washington in TRAINING DAY comes to mind right away). No, Finch is calm, collective, crafty, and very dangerous making him one of the scariest villians in film history (along with Anthony Hopkins in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS comes to my mind right away).
Swank does a superb job playing the above average female detective who proves that she's all brains and not looks (although she does look attractive in this film). Swank gives a performance that is little seen in most police dramas where the woman is usually playing the wife, or the police detective that is briefly seen.
The cinematography by Wally Pfister is breathtaking. Showing the beautiful snow-capped and glaicer mountains of British Columbia with the lighting of making it appear daylight all the time is a photographer triumph. Pfister does a great job by also setting the light up for the mood of the scene.
The final praise should go to director Christopher Nolan. The director who hit a home-run with last years surprise classic MEMENTO, hit's another home-run with INSOMNIA. I love the way Nolan pretty much remained faithful to the original '97 version and added more scenes of action and character development with his version. And what I loved the most is how such a beautiful town like Nightmute could have such terror with a young girl's murder.
All and all INSOMNIA is a film that should be remembered come next Feburary. If anyone deserves a Oscar for this film is Pacino for his outstanding acting in this film. And Williams deserves a Supporting Actor Oscar for his role. Hey, if Hopkins and Foster got Oscars for LAMBS then Pacino and Williams deserve Oscars as well.
I know, it might be nine months early to determine who should get Oscars or not. And I'm sure that I'll eat my words come September or December when I see another film with fantastic acting or directing. But INSOMNIA is one film that should at least be remembered with some nominations. This is one scary, yet brilliant film!!! ***** (out of five)