(Herald rating: * * * *)
Probably best not to dwell on Christopher Nolan's childhood and wonder what happened to inspire the 33-year-old English director. All three of his feature films — Following, Memento and now this — are subtle, menacing thrillers with a twist.
Just as Memento played tricks with time,
Insomnia is set a long way north in Alaska and allows the director to play tricks with the light — the summer sun that never sets.
It also offers two veteran actors their best roles in years: Al Pacino, who has grown increasingly more histrionic, and Robin Williams, who stopped being funny and turned marshmallow long ago.
Pacino plays Will Dormer, a grumpy, ageing LAPD detective sent to Nightmute, Alaska, "halibut fishing capital of the world," with his partner, Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan), to investigate a high school student's brutal murder.
As so often happens in the movies, there are two reasons for the trip: not only is the odd couple there to assist the local police, represented by eager rookie Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank), but also to allow their involvement in a messy internal investigation to blow over.
Dormer's trail leads to a shrewd and sinister writer, Walter Finch (Williams), who had a connection to the murdered girl. As the pair prepare for their psychological showdown, it becomes obvious that the writer knows the cop's dark secret. In Nolan's twist, prepare for a long twilight of the souls.
DVD features: movie (118min); commentaries by Nolan, Swank, and crew members; additional scene; conversation with Nolan and Pacino; Making of ... ; features In the Fog: cinematography and production design and Eyes Wide Open: the insomniac's world; stills gallery; trailer; cast and crew notes.
