they don't films like that anymore... or do they?

Rating: 9/10 (4 October 2002)

You do not often have a feeling that you have just finished reading a fine book, but that's exactly the feeling this movie gives you. The main cast: Al Pacino is as good as ever, and Robin Williams is doing surprisingly well as a villain. However, I don't understand how could the casting directors think that Hilary Swank was a match for the two Hollywood stars. To put things straight, she is not a bad actress, but she is also not good enough to play alongside Pacino and Williams. The script: it's a book. That's the feeling you get. It's not predictable, but you get the feeling of where things are going. You have some dialog and then you have some scenery, and you just know how it could have been described in a novel. The story is very realistic, except for some minor flaws (SPOILER: a detective wouldn't have called to L.A. to tell the wife of his partner about his death. Local police officers would have personally delivered the news.) Camera work: fantastic. Incredible scenery is wisely used to give the viewer the atmosphere of what the place is like. Directing: the whole concept of insomnia is missed somehow. We know Dormer can't sleep, but besides being reminded of it from time to time by his colleagues, we see no effect of it on Dormer himself, except for the last few minutes of the film. We don't see Dormer drink coffee every half an hour to stay awake, we don't see him use eye-drops, even though his eyes are perfectly clear with no signs of red. He sees some back-flashes from time to time, but that's not enough to give us a feeling of a man in a constant need for sleep, which he can not get. The score: nothing original, the score is similar to music you have heard in tens of thrillers before. Conclusion: this film probably deserves an 8, but I am a huge fan of Al Pacino. :-) 9/10