One of the better thrillers of the last couple of years.

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2006)

Somehow I have the feeling that his movie is an underrated one. It's a not much talked about movie, that certainly deserves to be talked about. It has got a great compelling story and it is professionally directed by Christopher Nolan and acted by the fine cast.
The movie starts of as a rather basic thriller but as the movie progresses it takes some nice turns. The story remains compelling throughout its entire running time for several reasons; the cast, the settings and the nice twists in the story.
The movie its story is very well constructed. It works well as a murder-mystery/detective movie but luckily the story is so much more than this, thanks to some original twists in the story. The movie really starts to get good and interesting from the moment when the detective and the perpetrator are somehow forced to help each other to conceal both their crimes and form an unholy alliance but without ever fully thrusting each other. It makes the movie mostly unpredictable and provides the movie with some nice twists and tense moments.
With Al Pacino in the lead, you just can't go wrong. He plays his character with eye for detail and in a sympathizing and honest way. He plays his part interesting, as well as realistic. This way we can always feel and cheer for the main character, even though some of his actions are far from being morally the right. Plus he looks like a very convincing insomniac as well. Also really excellent was Robin Williams in the role of the murderer. In "One Hour Photo" he already showed how well he can handle a non-comedy role but his role in this movie is perhaps even better, since the character itself is probably a more realistic every day person. Other fine actors such as Hilary Swank and Maura Tierney are also present but their roles aren't very challenging. Three Oscar winning actors together in one movie!
The settings also work really well for the movie. At first sight, Alaska would seem like an unlikely cold and boring place to set a movie in. The nature however looks beautiful and certainly as well adds to the movie its atmosphere. Of course also the beautiful cinematography and subtle directing adds to this.
From start to finish a great compelling thriller from talented director Christopher Nolan, with some superb acting in it.
8/10
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