I first saw a preview for Insomnia a few months ago when I was at a movie. Ever since then, I’ve been waiting to see Insomnia. I thought it looked like it would be good, and Robin Williams is in it. I’ve been a fan of Williams for years. The trailer did reveal that he would be playing the bad guy, so of course I just had to see Insomnia.

CAST

Al Pacino - Will Dormer
Robin Williams - Walter Finch
Hillary Swank - Ellie Burr
Martin Donovan - Hap Eckhart
Maura Tierney - Rachel Clement

Christopher Nolan - Director
Steven Soderbough - Producer
George Clooney - Producer

Insomnia is rated R for some violence, language, and brief nudity. The movie is 118 minutes long. No children should see the movie. Insomnia is a remake of a 1998 Norwegian movie of the same name.

PLOT

Will Dormer and Hap Eckhart are police officers from Los Angeles. The men, who are partners, are sent to a small town, Nightmute, in Alaska to help investigate the murder of a teen age girl. Will and Hap arrive in Nightmute on a very small airplane. During a conversation on the plane, it is revealed that there could be some trouble with Internal Affairs back in Los Angeles.

Ellie Burr, a cop in Nightmute, meets Will and Hap and takes them into town. She knows who Will is and she has a case of hero worship going on for him. She even studied some of his cases at the academy. She is very excited to be meeting him. She has been working on the investigation. Will and Hap get right to work on the case. Will has some insights about the killer right away after he sees the body. Will learns something that will keep him up at night. It is the time of the year when it stays daylight in Nightmute twenty-four hours a day. The constant daylight can be very disturbing to people who are not use to it.

Will starts to interview people related to the case the next day. Some evidence is found, and Will comes up with a plan to trap the killer. The police set up a stakeout. Someone shows up, one of the Nightmute cops does something that gives away the stakeout, and the person runs. The police chase after him, but they all have some trouble seeing because of a thick fog. It is very hard for them to see. Will sees someone in the fog. Thinking it is the killer, he fires. When he gets to the body, he discovers that he shot someone else. He didn’t see any witnesses around, so he claims that the killer did the shooting. The killer actually saw what happened and how Will tried to cover it up.

The girl who was murdered was a fan of a local author, Walter Finch. Will decides to go check him out. Walter doesn’t live in Nightmute, but in a nearby town. Will and Walter eventually meet on a ferry and have a chat. Walter admits to killing the girl, but he says it was an accident, like what happened with Will in the fog. Walter thinks they should work together since they are both in the same boat. Walter uses what he knows to manipulate Will. Neither man fully trusts the other, but they are stuck cooperating to save themselves. Will has more sleepless nights. Lack of sleep influences his ability to stay focused on the case and think clearly. He sees things that aren’t there at times. Ellie picks up on some inconsistencies related to what happened in the fog. She keeps digging. Many more things happen throughout the movie.

**End Plot Discussion**

I really enjoyed Insomnia. I thought it was suspenseful. There were a few surprises thrown in throughout the movie. It does move slow in a few places, but not so slow that it was boring. Some people may think the slower parts are boring though. It is known from the trailer that the character Robin Williams plays is the killer, but there are still many other things to be resolved in the movie.

There is some action in Insomnia, including a scene where Will chases Walter across logs floating on a river. That scene works really well in the movie. There are a few scenes that show some violence. It isn’t extreme, but it is there, and it could be too violent for some people. The dead body is also shown some, and that could be disturbing or upsetting to some people. People who don’t like to see violence in movies may want to skip this movie. Many of the characters swear throughout Insomnia. The word that rhymes with luck is used repeatedly throughout the movie. People that are offended by a lot of swearing in a movie should probably not see this movie.

The entire movie takes place in Alaska, in and around the town of Nightmute. I think that is a fictional town, but I’m not sure. Nightmute is a small town where everyone seems to know everyone else. There haven’t been any major crimes in the town in the past. Now there has been a murder in the town. The local authorities haven’t had any experience with this type of crime before, so help is called in to investigate the murder. Will and Hap, two detectives from Los Angeles, are sent to help. The Sheriff of Nightmute knew them because he use to work in Los Angeles with them. The movie takes place during the time of year when it is daylight twenty four hours a day there. The constant daylight plays a very important role in the movie. Some beautiful scenery of Alaska is included in some scenes.

Insomnia was directed by Christopher Nolan, the man who directed Memento. That was the most unique movie I have ever seen. Memento deals with a man who couldn’t remember anything after a few minutes, and how he deals with his memory problem. The main character in Insomnia, Will, suffers from insomnia. His insomnia seems to be caused by the constant daylight, but something else ends up contributing to the problem. Insomnia explores how the lack of sleep effects Will. The two movies are different, but they have some similarities. Murder is involved in both movies. The main characters in both suffer with something that affects their minds and how they live. Both movies are psychological thrillers. I enjoyed both movies, but I think I liked Insomnia a little more. One of my favorite actors, Robin Williams is in it, and it wasn’t as confusing at Memento.

The acting in Insomnia was very good. Robin Williams was brilliant as Walter Finch. This movie really proves that he can handle different, complex roles. He has played some serious roles in the past, but Walter is different from other characters he has played. After many years of making several family friendly movies, Williams has started to move away from those types of movies. I read once, several years ago, that he started with the family type movies because he wanted his children to be able to see some of his movies. He did make several movies for adult audiences too, but nothing like his newest movies. In the last few months, he has made two movies, Insomnia and Death to Smoochy, where he plays darker characters. Insomnia is a serious movie. Death to Smoochy was very different, being a dark comedy. These two movies illustrate how well Williams can play very different characters.

Randolph, the character Williams plays in Death to Smoochy, is very different from Walter. Randolph wasn’t perfect, and he did some rather mean things, but he wasn’t truly evil. After losing his job, he had a breakdown of sorts, going crazy for a while, which is why he did what he did. He was trying to get his job back. He did things he shouldn’t have, but he wasn’t really evil. Everyone knew Randolph was having some problems because much of what he did ended up on the news. Walter is a very different character. He seems like a normal, nice guy until he beats a girl to death. Just that quick, he became a cold-blooded killer. He stayed calm after the murder, cleaning up the body, and removing any evidence that could link him to her. Even after that, he still manages to seem completely normal. No one realizes he is a killer. Walter was manipulating Will to protect himself. Walter is ready to turn violent again when it looks like things may not go as he planned. Walter is evil and dangerous because he is able to convince everyone he is harmless.

Al Pacino was very believable in his role as Will, a man suffering from insomnia. Pacino looks tired in many of his scenes. As the movie continues, Pacino looks more and more exhausted. The bags under his eyes seem to get bigger and more pronounced. He looked like a man who hadn’t slept in days. As his insomnia continues, he has trouble thinking clearly at times. He starts to see things. Adding to his condition was the guilt he was feeling over what happened in the fog. He was also worrying about what was going on in Los Angeles with Internal Affairs. All of those things contributed to his problems. Will was spiraling out of control.

Hillary Swank didn’t have as many scenes, but she was good in the ones she had. I’ve only seen her in a few things before, and that was several years ago. She was really good in Insomnia. Her characters starts off with a case of hero worship for Will. As the movie progresses, the stars are removed from her eyes, and she sees that he isn’t the super human cop she had built him up to be. He is human, and he has made mistakes. She herself finds evidence of one of the mistakes he made and has to decide what to do with the information. The character of Ellie does go through some changes by the end of the movie.

CHARACTERS

Will Dormer - He is a detective from Los Angeles that travels to Nightmute to help with a murder investigation. When he arrives in Alaska, he is upset about some things going on back in Los Angeles. He and his partner seem to be having a disagreement about something. He seems dedicated to the job. He thinks criminals belong in jail. He is good at his job, picking up on small clues others may miss. He isn’t use to the constant sunlight in Nightmute, so he suffers from insomnia. He seems willing to do some questionable things, first to catch criminals, and then to protect himself.

Hap Eckhart - He is Will’s partner. He and Will have worked together for a long time. Hap is married and has a child. He is very worried about something going on back in Los Angeles. He is considering talking to Internal Affairs about something once he returns.

Walter Finch - He is an author that lives in another town near Nightmute. The girl that was murdered was a fan, and had several of his books, at least one of them was autographed. He seems to keep to himself. He has dogs. He is very cunning, and willing to manipulate others to protect himself. He knows something concerning Will, and he uses it to his advantage.

Ellie Burr - She is one of the local police. Will is her hero. She even studied one of his big cases at the academy. When he arrives, she is rather star struck. She wants to be a good cop, and she works hard. She is put in charge of writing up a report on what happened in the fog after the stakeout. While doing that, she discovers some inconsistencies. She finds some proof of Will being involved. She wants to do the right thing, but she is conflicted since she things so highly of him.

Insomnia is a very good movie. I really enjoyed it. I think that people who like psychological thrillers would enjoy this movie. Fans of any of the actors will also probably enjoy the movie. People who don’t like psychological thrillers or can’t stand any of the actors should probably avoid seeing Insomnia.

Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age