Good, but not great

Rating: 7/10 (26 May 2002)

In a year where the film product tumbling out of Hollywood is mediocre at best, "Insomnia" looks like a masterpiece. Not quite. Christopher Nolan's followup to the inimitable "Memento" doesn't quite reach those heghts of originality. The movie is good, but not the great piece of filmmaking that most critics would have you believing it is.
Why? Al Pacino has done the Weary Cop Thing before (think "Sea of Love") so playing this part isn't much of a stretch, and I personally think he's a bit old to be playing the cop and chasing suspects over floating logs etc. Hilary Swank still hasn't found a sufficient followup role after her triumph in "Boys Don't Cry," and she basically follows the Pacino character around. Most importantly, what hampers "Insomnia 2002" is the Hollywood ending, the obligatory shootout, the baddies are subdued, and good triumphs. I expected more ambiguity and less predictability from a truly innovative director like Nolan, and he let me down. Succumbing to the standard Hollywood finale may ensure Nolan a lengthy and profitable career in Tinseltown, but a sellout is a sellout is a sellout.
To digress a bit, wouldn't "Panic Room" have been a more effective movie if Forrest Whitaker just left with the loot, didn't return to the house, and left Jodie Foster to her own devices? Now that's an ending, not perfect one, not a happy one, but better than what was given to the moviegoer.
I'm not a Robin Williams fan, but I sincerely hope he's remembered next February when Oscar nominations roll out. He was creepy, calculating, pathetic, and simply scary in his part. As for everyone else, I say it's on to the next project.