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Nolan crafts an expertly balanced drama with a surprising emotional underpinning that transcends what it means to be a good detective thriller. Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 4, 2022
May 26, 2022 · Completing the informal “Williams as a killer” trilogy is Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia, a taut, star-studded thriller where the focus is on performance as much as plot.
May 23, 2024 · As a middle-of-the-road thriller, Insomnia is a great watch with a predictably bonkers late-season twist and a spooky enough cliffhanger ending that leaves open the possibility for more. It...
- Small Town Murder
- Al Pacino
- Flawed Hero
- The Mentor Relationship
- Grounded
- Chase Scenes
- Dual Investigations
- Robin Williams
- The Exhaustion
- Daylight
Insomnia benefits greatly from its well-worn small-town murder genre. Two Los Angeles cops arrive in an Alaskan fishing town to investigate the brutal murderof local teen Kay Connell. The town in question adds so much to the eerie story. The fictional town of Nightmute in this film is the kind of place where everyone knows each other. As one charac...
By 2002, Al Pacino wasn't starring in as many critically acclaimed films as he was used to before. Some criticized him for leaning into the over-the-top performances in some films while phoning it in with others. RELATED: Al Pacino: His 5 Best & 5 Worst Roles (According To IMDB) Without a doubt, his performance in Insomniastands alongside some of h...
It becomes clear very quickly that Dormer is an excellent detective. But the movie introduces an interesting subplot involving Dormer and his partner Hap being investigated by internal affairs back in Los Angeles. This is the first hint that Dormer may not be the upstanding cop he seems to be. The plot thickens when Dormer accidentally shoots and k...
Once Dormer arrives in Nightmute, he meets local cop Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) who happens to be a big fan of his. Ellie also proves to be a promising detective herself and relishes the opportunity to learn as much from Dormer as possible. An interesting thing begins to develop between them as Dormer becomes more and more haunted by the murder of H...
Nolan makes films unlike any other filmmaker working today. He tells massive and ambitious stories on such a grand scale. From Inception to Interstellar to Tenet, his films just seem to be getting bigger. RELATED: 10 Most Heroic Characters In Christopher Nolan Films While there is an undeniable fun to those big movies, it's interesting to see Nolan...
While most of the movie is a quiet and tense thriller, Nolan gets to show off some of his impressive directorial skills in the film's pair of excellent chase sequences. The first chase finds the cops closing in on the killer only to be led into a cloud of fog. It makes for a terrifying and suspenseful sequence. The second chase finds Dormer chasing...
After the death of Hap which Dormer blames on Kay Connell's killer, the movie becomes divided into two separate investigations. As Dormer continues to look into the death of Kay, Ellie is assigned to investigate the shooting of Hap. It's a unique framing for the movie as the central detective character is trying to close in on the killer, Ellie is ...
Though he doesn't appear until over an hour into the movie, Robin Williams immediately adds a chilling new energy to the film. He plays Walter Finch, a local author responsible for killing Kay. RELATED: Robin Williams: 10 Best Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes Williamsdoesn't often play the villain, but this movie shows how effective he is in su...
With all the intrigue already in the film, another brilliant detail is added to the story with Dormer's insomnia. He arrives in Nightmute and discovers it is currently in a seasonal cycle in which the sun doesn't go down. The constant sunlight mixed with his own guilt causes him to go days on end without sleep. Dormer begins to fade into exhaustion...
The daylight aspect of the movie also separates Insomniafrom other films in the genre in an interesting way. While most thrillers are largely set at night and elicit fear from the unknown of the darkness, this movie uses light in a way that is just as effective. Dormer cannot escape the light which keeps him up and keeps his conscience in constant ...
- Colin Mccormick
- Author
Christopher Nolan’s ‘Insomnia’ is one of my all-time favorites. SUGGESTING. Everyone mentions Memento as one of Nolan’s greats, but I feel like Insomnia gets quietly overlooked when it comes to great cinema. I rarely hear about it as movies deserving of honorable mention, but am always on the edge of my seat when I give it another watch.
From acclaimed director Chris Nolan ("Memento") comes the story of a veteran police detective (Al Pacino) who is sent to a small Alaskan town to investigate the murder of a teenage girl.
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- Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
- R
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One time I put on Insomnia for a few friends, cause it’s a good movie, and it put everyone to sleep.
