10/13/2006

Insomnia (2002)

Insomnia
A Real Sleeper

Nightmute, Alaska has a big murder case: Teenage girl found scrubbed clean in a dump pile. The local police need help which arrives in the form of seasoned L.A. cop Will Dormer (Al Pacino) and his younger parter Hap (Martin Donovan), both of whom are under investigation by the LAPD Internal Affairs.

The eager young local detective, Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) is in awe of tough, on-target Dormer. She'd attended a seminar he conducted at one time and had studied many of his cases.

Dormer cuts right to the quick upon arriving in Nightmute and goes after the dead girl's abusive boyfriend but in the mix, he shoots his partner, Hap. Was it an accident or intentional?

While Ellie Burr follows up on this shooting, Dormer switches his focus on the eerie pulp fiction writer Walter Finch (Robin Williams).

Meanwhile, the ever-present Alaskan summer sun is driving Dormer crazy to the point that he isn't sure of anything himself.

I don't recall hearing about this film when it was released but I'm glad I found it now. Pacino, Swank and Williams are terrific.

Directed by Christopher Nolan.

Rated R for language, some violence and brief nudity.

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