Nerves on Edge

Rating: Null/10 (15 June 2002)

I hate suspense movies. They make me jumpy & I feel edgy for the rest of that day. I try to avoid the whole genre as much as possible. I was unable to avoid Se7en, Double Jeopardy, and tonight, Insomnia.

Despite my hating to watch these types of movies, I highly respect the writers & directors, because I believe they are brilliant. The plots of these movies are excellent & well thought-out. While I'd rather see a comedy any day, I feel comedies do not (usually) have the intelligence of suspense movies.
Insomnia was just as brilliant as Double Jeopardy, and almost as brilliant as Se7en. The movie grabs you & places you right in the midst of the fray and doesn't let you wander out until the very end. The deep exhale at the end of the movie only released a portion of the built up tension the movie caused. I think that all suspense-lovers would love this.
If you've read the plot summary for this movie, then you know that it's based on a good cop(Pacino) killing his partner(Donovan) in a search for the killer(Robin). After the movie, you'll find yourself debating whether or not Pacino's action was truly an accident or not. I feel that leaving such mystery is one of the signs of a great movie. The audience doesn't need to be 100% sure of anything. I close my eyes so much, though, during suspences that I'm never sure of things even explicitly shown. Oh well, back to American Pie and South Park for me...