Insomnia: Nolan's Tiresome Film

Rating: Null/10 (29 May 2003)

I want to, but have yet to see Following; however after seeing Memento I fell in love with Director Christopher Nolan's visual filmmaking style. Then I saw Insomnia. I couldn't believe what I was watching. I felt like I was watching a typical Hollywood Thriller film cat and mouse game. As the time passed from opening titles to ending credits I could feel any respect and admiration for Nolan slowly seeping out of me. Don't get me wrong I still think he's a remarkable director for making films like Following and Memento, but there was something just lacking in Insomnia that he pulled off brilliantly with his two previous films. Following and Memento just had such a great Psychological deepness to them that I think part of that lacking element was the fact that in those two previous films he requires, forces and encourages you to make your brain think about what's going on in the plot. Yes he does it here to in Insomnia, but he doesn't push the envelope to it's limit, potential or barrier so to speak as much as he did with the other films. Along with Pacino questioning if he really did kill his partner he makes you question that as well. That though to me is the extent of the thinking he requires of you for this film. With Memento, if you saw it in theatres you know what I'm talking about, if you left the theatre for less then five minutes you might as well have not come back into the theatre. That's how lost you got in his labrynth of complexity he created with Memento. Following and Memento are the best examples of the style of filmmaking known as Film Noir, from the french literally meaning "Black Film" and those two are very dark films that explore the dark side of human nature. I couldn't get that at all with Insomnia. True I got that from Williams playing the bad guy, but with Following and Memento you get that dark side of human nature from all the characters whether their the good or bad guys. The only consulation was that I got to see a free screening of Insomnia and didn't have to waste good money to see it.