A Solid Yet Conventional Thriller

Rating: 7/10 (14 January 2017)

Christopher Nolans filmography in his short career is very varied and different he's done Sci Fi, superheros and Phycological thrillers yet this film seems much more straightforward than his other films while it's easily his worst film under Nolans hand it's solidly entertaining with some truly fantastic performances. The best thing about this film is how atmospheric it is, the touch of having the town in constant daylight reflected Pacinos inability to sleep and set this location out as different. Al Pacino gives one of his better performances in this film he's completely convincing in his gradual decline through his lack of sleep and brought a conflicted nature to his character. Robin Williams also gives one of his best performances in this film because he is so creepy and unstable in this film so he's always entertaining and engaging to watch. I will say this for the film it did do a good job at being engaging, the mystery was pretty interesting, even though we get the reveal of the murderer fairly quickly the battle between Pacino and Williams was always engaging. This film succeeds at being entertainment in its action sequences, there extremely gritty and life like. However this film does have flaws that stem mostly from the script, for one it's a fairly standard murder mystery at its core, had it not included the insomnia plot thread nothing about this film would have been truly unique. However probably my biggest issue with this film is the decisions made by Al Pacino character, we get all this build up towards him being an honest cop but after his one mistake, though fairly large, he seems to just flip 180 into a completely different person who comes across as corrupt and is in complete contradiction of itself. A fairly interesting sub plot of Williams blackmailing Pacino looked like it could be fantastic but is barely focused upon and quickly grazed over and is ultimately dropped.
I know this is a fairly short review but there just not that much to talk about in this film, it's got two very good lead performances, Nolan directs to action brilliantly, it's an atmospheric film and one that is at least entertaining. The script however lets this film down with its clichés, contradictions and dropped sub plots. It's not a bad film but far from Nolans finest work.
75%/B