Intelligent Thriller

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2002)

Christopher Nolan happens to be the guy who wrote and directed one of the most fresh and innovative thrillers of recent times, namely Memento'. So I get to watch his new offering that stars Al Pacino and Robin Williams. Sounds good to me.
Never having seen the original Norwegian film, I cannot say how many changes have been made to accommodate the change of location, Hollywood actors and the American & English speaking audience. What I can say is that I thought it was very clever. It hooks you early on and drags you along at a heady pace. The characters are well drawn and within minutes I had a connection with Dormer to the point that when he has his discussion with Eckhart (Martin Donovan) I was shocked and dismayed that such a nice guy, and obviously good, conscientious policeman, has stepped over the line. This continued on through the film to the point where we find out what he has done. It is a very intriguing plotline. There are a number of questions that I, as a viewer, was asking through the course of the movie and all were answered in the end.
Do I really have to say anything about the acting? Al Pacino is always convincing. The man also has a presence that makes him the focus of any scene. Watch a Master at work. He plays the insomnia of the title so well that as the climax comes into view you want to give him a good slapping to wake him up. Robin Williams often has his performances talked down. May be this due to some kind of snobbery over the Mork', stand up period of his career. I have usually found his straight' performances to utterly believable and compelling, and I would say the same about the quiet and subdued portrayal given in Insomnia'. That said I would also say that there isn't a bad performance from any of the cast. Most don't have that much to get their teeth into but they do their best with what they have.
Memento' was a totally new way of filming a thriller..or even any movie. If you haven't seen it I suggest you do. Nolan cannot be expected to carry this off every time. Here we have some lovely filming of locations, as you would expect with the story being set in Alaska. I did find the almost subliminal shoots of flashbacks and hallucinations a little intrusive, but then again also liked the intelligence of the director showing us plot pointers and the effects of lack of sleep. So on the whole I suppose I give them the thumbs up. For a wordy piece and thought it had a good pace and I never felt that scenes were drawn out or overly long.
Not Memento' but still a very good, intelligent thriller from a good Director and featuring a couple of wonderful performances from two very good actors. See this film.