Solid Cop Drama, But Not Spectacular

Rating: 5/10 (10 March 2017)

I was originally drawn to this film because of director Christopher Nolan. After viewing his Batman re-boots (Batman Begins & The Dark Knight) and enjoying them immensely, I was hopefully that Nolan's other works would provide some of the same. In the case of Insomnia, he makes a much more "traditional" film, shrouded in a bit of false advertising to make it seem a bit more mysterious than it really is.
For a basic plot summary, the film centers on policeman Will Dormer (Al Pacino), who travels to an Alaskan town to try and solve a murder case. With an Internal Affairs investigation breathing down his neck back home, Dormer is under intense pressure to succeed in this new arena. While teaming with local cop Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank), Dormer not only struggles to solve the case, but also gets mixed up with mysterious writer Walter Finch (Robin Williams).
On the whole, this movie functions pretty well as a traditional cop drama. It has the murder mystery, the gun shootouts, and the intrigue plot line which questions the integrity of pretty much everyone involved. Without looking for anything more, this would be a very solid film.
However, the film is advertised/promoted as so much more than just a cop drama. The title itself indicates that the condition of insomnia will play a big role in the film, but it does not (Dormer not sleeping doesn't seem to add anything to the plot). Robin Williams's role is billed as a taut, psychological thrill-ride, but he doesn't make an appearance until an hour into the movie and even after that point is severely underutilized. Also, Swank's character is introduced as a potential key part in the film, but she (like Williams) just isn't given anything interesting to do.
Thus, I can only give this film an "average" rating due to its inability to rise above a simple cop drama.