Movie is GOOD; PACINO IS GREAT

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2002)

Al Pacino is clearly now the front runner for Best Actor Award. He is simply marvelous in this film as a tortured detective.
In Alaska there was a murder, and two detectives from Los Angeles are sent to assist. (I was never sure why!). The problem is that there has been an Internal Affairs Investigation and the younger member of this team is likely to testify against the Pacino character. So when while chasing the killer that detective is shot (accidentally?) by Pacino we and he are left to wonder about the motivation.
Pacino, who previously falsified evidence to convict a known killer (why the IA investigation) now falsifies more evidence to coverup his shooting of the younger detective - the twist is that the killer knows this and begins to blackmail Pacino, who can't sleep either due to the lack of sunsets at the that high a latitude (this is Alaska) or his guilty conscience. We are never sure of which, and neither is he.
Pacino is marvelous. Hilary Swank good. Robin Williams is creepy as the killer who it turns out is just as much a tortured ambiguous soul as the Pacino one is. This is not a film with black and white borders regarding morality and right and wrong, although at the climax Pacino makes an attempt to clarify that issue in his own mind.
The plot works. The setting in Alaska does a good job in giving the feeling of isolation Pacino feels, and he is simply wonderful.
Almost certainly "Insomnia" will be regarded as a Film Noir classic.