Insomnia? Take a Dose of Al Pacino and Call Me in the Morning

Insomnia is a phenomenal film that has just hit my local cinema. The lines are out the door and the butter is oozing on the popped kernels. Please don’t miss this one. Insomnia has lured me into the movies.

The director of this flick is the same phenomenal director that also did Memento. If you never saw this mystery thriller it is also a must see.

The Cinematography

From the moment the film opens among jagged white cliffs of Alaskan tundra and sheer rock face you know this is going to be something beyond the pale. Perhaps it is the oozing of blood and the drops being scrubbed off a white sleeve. Or was it a scene whereby there is a search for a killer through a deep and cloudy fog? The subtle light off an oil cloth shade or perhaps it was the attention to such minute detail that gets the viewer to observe each moment as if it was the last breath you take. The photography is crisp and clean. The sharp focus and quick transitions from one shot to the next kept the moviegoers on the edge of the seat.


The Sound

I would be amiss if I did not give credit here to the wonderful sound crew and the job they did on Insomnia. The movie theater I attended had a huge surround sound system. If you get the opportunity to go to this type of showing, I recommend it. It allows you to be mesmerized and taken away from the reality of the theater. Your heart will definitely skip some beats every few minutes as you are transformed into the world of a murder mystery in Alaska.


Al Pacino

I adore Al Pacino in everything he does. Whatever he does it is totally believable and above the harshest critic. Is it the swagger of a detective that has a few of his own ghosts to put down or is it his face? Craggy. Lined now in mid age, his right cheek has a definitive line. His voice has cragginess also. A life of hard living portrayed as a detective flown off to Alaska to aid in the solving of a murder mystery of a young gal. He pulls off the role without an issue. Will Dormer is his character. Insomnia rules his life as the sun fails to dip down below the equator, as so does his conscience prevent him from seeking the sleep he so desires.

Hillary Swank

Hillary Swank played the gender-bending role in Boys Don’t Cry. It was an Oscar winning performance and an award that was well deserved at the time. Insomnia is a completely different role. Here we find our gal portraying a local rookie cop. A gal used to merely solving issues such as bar room brawls and traffic violations. The elderly police detective Will Dormer mentors her. He teaches her well. Her assignment is to be the shadow for the detective to help track a young gals killer, when her assignment takes a strange turn mid- stream and the detective himself becomes her focus.

Robin Williams

I do not care for his performance in this film. Granted he does the job and plays the part, but in essence I find his role a stretch. He plays a mystery murder author who summers in a cabin in the outer reaches of Alaska. He is supposedly the young victims mentor. I find him too soft to pass as a potential intellectual, and too funny looking to serve as any young girls possible confidant. I remember what is was like to be seventeen, and the last person on earth I would seek out is someone who looks like Robin Williams. Sorry, Robin.


The Family Filmgoer

I would urge you to not let anyone under sixteen go to this film. There is a brief b it of nudity, which is totally inoffensive. The real horror here is the violence inherent in the script of this film. There was also a great deal of cursing in this film.


My Final Say

I would urge you to high tail it to the movie this weekend and definite see this film. It is exciting, has a powerful plot and a story line that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. I adore the fact that the story is basically left up to the viewer to put together piece-by-piece like a giant jigsaw puzzle. This film is for the intellectually motivated. If you need the plot of a film spoon fed to you, better save this one for next time. Are you still reading this…get moving.