Mutton dressed as lamb?

Rating: Null/10 (25 August 2002)

Possible spoilers
The above summary is a little harsh, but rather accurately sums up my feeling about this film. To be honest, I enjoyed it, despite my heightened expectations. The problem lies not in the excellent direction and camerawork, the sympathetic and controlled acting and the stunning scenery, but in the second-rate script. I felt, after watching it, that I'd just seen an airport novel brought to the screen.
The film begins with a couple of scenes of rather clunky exposition. Al Pacino plays a Los Angeles cop sent to a small town to Alaska to solve a young girl's murder. He is also under investigation by internal affairs and these two situations begin to collide as the perpetual sunshine of the arctic town keeps him awake, night after night. The weighty exposition and desire to tie up all the thematic threads continues throughout the film and manages to drag down the pace. Interestingly, it is only when Robin Williams appears on the scene that the film begins to take off. His is by far the best and most complex character, and you are never quite sure what he believes he did to the dead girl.
Inside this film is a great film trying to get out. Couldn't anyone fix the script? Were their hands tied? They must have known how leaden it was. With another draft, the removal of a few large plot holes (sleeping pills? At the end, how does one character know about another character's investigations?), a dreadful scene of chance' discovery involving a tennis ball, and the removal of the main female part (think about it, there is no reason for her to be there  she is just his conscience), it could have been a much better, tighter film.
Missed opportunity: 6/10