A decent film that could have been a great film

Rating: 7/10 (31 May 2002)

After seeing Insomnia, I had one of those feelings of limbo, wondering to what degree I liked this film. After seeing Memento, I decided that anything Christopher Nolan writes, I will see, since that was one of the most brilliant movies of my time. But, Insomnia, though similar in a few aspects, is a totally different movie.
First off, I will list the positive qualities of this film. The acting by the main leads is wonderful. Robin Williams, in my opinion, was the highlight of the film, as a super cunning murderer, who has an everyday quality about him...this is what made him so chilling, was thinking that you may know a guy like that right next door to you, someone very friendly, but oddly private at the same time. He did an excellent job, and did not have enough screen time in my opinion. Hillary Swank was surprisingly good and likeable, and Pacino, who usually gives a great performance as basically himself, was a little better than average this time around. The film has wonderful scenery that adds to the spooky isolation in the film. Plus, it has a few hidden messages,
(***spoiler ahead) like when we find out that his insomnia was not due to the constant sunlight in alaska, but due to his conscious...I thought the best part of the film was when Hillary Swank quoted Pacino in that there are two types of cops who can't sleep, one's that are trying to solve a mystery, and those with a guilty conscious. It was brilliant when the waitress flips the light on in Pacino's room, and the screen is almost overwhelmed with light, giving him an epiphany in justifying his sleep depriavtion. (End spoiler***).
The movie is at its best when Williams is on the screen, coniving with Pacino in the coverup that will save both of their lives. If only they included more scenes of Williams tormenting Pacino though, it would have been better.
Okay, now for the negative. This film, though keeps your attention for the most part and is pretty entertaining at times, is not a thriller at all. It is more of an analyzation of our protagonist's psyche, though we don't get an in depth look, we mainly observe from a third person perspective and draw our own conclusions. The debate on whether he purposely killed his partner is ludicrous, it is very obvious if you think about it, but that's all I'll say. It is never resolved, and was poorly executed and Pacino just doesn't act like this corrupt cop that we're supposed to see him as, we once again, observe the present and just have to accept it.
The film also drags a little in parts. Not that it mattered to me, but the film has barely any action and no suspense, unlike what was implied in the previews, though there are the occasional bloody flashbacks, which get annoying after we've seen them for the hundredth time. The ending was so predictable, a major disapointment. And here's the big one...there are no characters to root for at all. Even the most honorable of viewers will have a hard time rooting for Swank to solve the case, though she was definitely a charmer on the screen, I almost wanted the film's asset (Williams) to succeed, only b\c he was such an interesting character that had such a diagolically ingenius plan. The film just doesn't carry the weight it should, it lacks substance and profiles for our characters...we rarely feel their pain, we just see or hear about it in the movie.
All in all, not a bad film, definitely worth seeing once, but it just was not what I was expecting from such a talented writer/director. It is entertaining, very entertaining in some parts, but the entertainment just doesn't flow through the movie...it doesn't feel like a mystery, nor suspense, not even so much a character study, it just shows a situation and how the two main leads work to resolve it, though, an entertaining situation at that. It's good for a single viewing when it goes on dvd. This movie could have been a 10, but I'll have to give it a 7 for the acting, the scenery and William's scheme; it loses big on the payoff, unfortunately.