insomnia
directed by christopher nolan
Insomnia is one of those movies,
one of those so very rare movies, that surprises.
Luckily I saw no trailers and knew next to nothing
about the movie (other than it is probably good)
and that always helps. The set-up is as conventional
as can be. A brutal murder has been committed.
Blah blah. Killer will probably strike again.
Blah. Superstar detective appears on the scene.
Blah. Makes clever deductions that the local
(obviously not very bright) cops gasp at theatrically.
BLAH. However, the director of this movie directed
the marvelous Memento,
so Insomnia was always likely
to be superior to your average bullshit cop
movie. And that is exactly what Insomnia is:
a highly superior bullshit cop movie. Bullshit
because it is utterly implausible. Superior
because, well because it is an excellent film.
There is relatively little action - this movie
doesn't need gimmicks. Insomnia is interested
in psychology. It has a compelling storyline
and contains characters who are well defined
played by actors whose tendency to overact has
been successfully restrained. Considering that
this movie contains protagonists played by Al
Pacino - who has been hammy of late - and Robin
Williams, this was a remarkable twist.
Pacino fulfilled his role well: he is a very
knackered and haggard looking copper. But to
my utter shock, Williams is stunning. I have
never had a penchant for this "comedian":
he is either babbling and unfunny or syrupy
- which is yet more unfunny. Or he is an unbearably
mawkish combination of the two. Williams is
an actor who sums up all that is shit about
the corporate American movie meat grinder.
Yet in Insomnia
Williams is superb. I kept pinching myself,
convinced that this was some surreal dream.
Appropriate that for a movie in which sleep,
or lack of such, is a running theme.
Insomnia is a very well crafted thriller: not
too many fireworks, but lots of fire.
|
|
|
spoilers corner
Spoilers!!!!
Warning: this box contains a movie post-mortem analysis that freely gives away important plot twists and details. If you have not yet seen this movie and intend seeing it, avoid this spoilers box until afterwards. Bookmark the page, see the movie, see if you agree with my review then write an arsy comment saying I am talking total b*ll*cks :-)
|
| |
The insomnia itself within Insomnia adds
atmosphere rather than being an essential
part of the plot, which is about morality,
conscience and corruption. The insomnia
itself seems to be caused by the conscience
of the corrupt cop, but it also allows
for a great ending, where the detective
can only find peace and finally "sleep"
once his conscience is finally clear.
That is a magical metaphor and makes this
movie great.
Another nice part of this movie was how
the idealistic girl gradually realises
that her idol is corrupt, the supercop
cases she studied about and swallowed
at cop school was just bullshit. He always
seemed awkward when faced with her adulation,
seemingly deriving no pleasure from it.
Only at the end did he seem at ease with
her.
One more idea: I found it jarring how
Williams' character seemed to know exactly
how much sleep Pacino was getting (none).
How did he know? Was Williams character,
at least in part, a hallucination: a manifestation
of Pacino's conscience conjured up by
sleep deprivation?
|
|
There are no more spoilers below this
point, except maybe in any user talkback
comments.
End of spoilers corner
|
|
|
None
Add your comment to this page
 | | | | | | From: |
Daniel Alando Garcia | Subject: | 2006-03-22 17:10:38 |
| | | | | | From: |
Daniel Alando Garcia | Subject: | 2006-03-22 17:33:01 |
| | | | |
help: how to add your comment Page hits: 9012
|
