Hitchcock for the new millennium?

Rating: 9/10 (31 August 2002)

OK, maybe this may pushing it a wee, teency bit, but I have a funny tingling feeling that Chris Nolan could be on his way to becoming the best British export since the late Alfred Hitchcock. Pushing it a bit? Maybe. However, his Thrillers are growing in stature now and the creation of tension is superb.
Insomnia features a sterling cast performance, obviously with Messrs Pacino and Williams deserving a lot of credit in their part of creating very strong characters. Pacino's performance as the tormented insomniac detective Will Dormer is as magnificent as it is subtle. His haggard face lifeless as he grows into a deeper spiral of sleep deprivation, guilt and despair. This is definatley as good as any work Pacino has done before. Williams is quite a revelation as the twisted Walter Finch and wholly believable. Hilary Swank in the supporting role as the eager young detective is as usual great.
The atmosphere in the film is it's crowning glory, the collision between the claustrophobic interiors of the Police station and Walter Finch's home to the vast and beautiful Alaskan vistas. The lack of action gives way to a superb psychological battle between Dormer and Finch giving a great Hitchcock-esque (there I said it) final sequence. If you like your thrillers psychological, this is your film.