When Detective Will Dormer is sent up to Alaska to head up a murder case he makes no bones about who is in charge of his investigation. After a brief chase with the murderer, he accidentally shoots his partner and kills him. Worried about hurting his reputation, which is already on trial, Dormer pins the murder on the other killer, who witnessed the entire thing. Dormer has to find the other killer and fight off stress and an enormous amount of sleep deprivation thanks to a never darkening sky of the town of Nightmute.
Suspense defines Insomnia perfectly. The tainted mood that Al Pacino’s Will Dormer has over him from the beginning of the film that constantly builds with a series of events, capped off by his character’s lack of sleep makes you tense from beginning to end. What’s even more impressive is how you see Dormer come into the entire situation as a cocky, know-it-all cop and leave the situation completely broken down. That type of transition with the character is fed with the never changing environment around him and a psychotic killer playing head games with his character.
Robin Williams does an equally impressive job as Walter Finch. He’s a serial killer that attracts young girls into his web and kills them. When this movie came out in 2002 Robin Williams hadn’t really done a dark side type of film before (Death to Smoochy was the same year, but not as dark as this). Seeing him in 2002 in this type of role had to be really jarring. He played a great character that was a perfect villain for Pacino’s Dormer.
All of this is beautifully crafted and orchestrated by Christopher Nolan’s wonderful direction. His ability to keep track of the story, getting the characters in the right place with the right type of mood and put all of this into a very dreary, worn out environment is nothing short of impressive.
Were there any issues? Well, I didn’t particularly love the speed of the conclusion. The ending felt a bit forced/rushed. If Nolan had just hung on to the story and progressed it just a bit more then this movie would have been outstanding. Three-fourths way through you could see the story stalling just a bit. Other than this complaint, the movie is creepy and suspense filled. If you’re looking for a good murder mystery then it’s probably right up your alley.
The real reason you want to read this review is because of the Blu-ray. The video is excellent, but not the best HD I’ve seen from Warner Home Video. There are plenty of impressive moments on the Blu-ray that really use the HD format well. One particular moment is when Dormer is running through the fog-chasing Finch. The fog is so well done, no artifacts at all, that you’re as blind and confused as Dormer. It’s a fantastic scene that’s even more impressive on Blu-ray. Also, the sleep deprivation scenes with Dormer will make you absolutely tired; yes, they’re done that well.
Nearly perfect audio helps out too for Insomnia. The soundtrack is well done and the sound effects will have you creeped out with the film.
As for features, you’re getting a ginormous amount. While some of these certainly are re-hash, that still doesn’t make them less interesting. You get four good featurettes on the making of the movie and some great conversation between Nolan and Pacino (really good stuff). You also get some information on insomnia and some side information on how they did the fog scene in the film. You get some commentary from the cast and crew as well. There’s plenty to be impressed about in this re-released film to Blu-ray. If you’re a Christopher Nolan fan you should definitely add this to your collection.
Oh, almost forgot, you also get a lovely $7.50 movie ticket to Inception. In Lexington, Kentucky that will buy you a matinee ticket. In Los Angeles that might buy you a small coke. Regardless, free ticket.