Insomnia
So I saw Insomnia last night. I actually bought some candy in the movie theater cause I was running late. I got gummy bears. They get old real fast fyi. Sour Patch Kids kick ass over them but they didn't have Sour Patch Kids. I knew I should have gotten the Kit Kat. I don't know what I was thinking about.
This flick stars Al the Pal Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank. They movie promos brag about how they're all Oscar winners but it's like... seriously... who cares? We know who they are. Anyway, Al Pacino plays this top cop who is going through an Internal Affairs investigation. Hilary Swank plays a good girl cop (she doesn't show her boobs) and Robin Williams was Mork from Ork.
The movie takes place in Alaska and I liked parts of this flik. The movie made me feel as though I had an obligation to like it rather than a genuine like. I was frickin psyched for this movie cause it's directed by Chris Nolan who directed Memento, which was my favorite movie last year (or was that last year or the year before?) Anyway Al Pacino is brought up from LA to investigate a murder. He screws up and the killer gets him by the balls. He gets insomnia cause he's all tortured and stuff and it makes his brain all fuzzy.
My problems with this movie was it was too basic from a plot standpoint, not deep enough of character development beyond Pacino's character and not crazy enough. The whole insomnia thing could lead to alot of craziness but I think this movie just scratched the surface. Plus Chris Nolan threw in alot of 'snippits' (quick split second flashes of images you can't really recognize). This might be cool for the dvd but for the most part not being able to make out what those things were was just distracting. And I usually like that stuff.
However, I liked the tortured Al the Pal Pacino character and he played it well. Mork held his own as a real actor but Hilary Swank only existed to balance off Pacino. Nothing much there. The shots of Alaska are way nice looking and this movie creates a different vibe than most stuff you'll see. The vibe didn't really click in for me though.
Three Good Things About This Movie
- Alaska is obviously very beautiful and this movie has lots of scenic eye
candy.
- The tired implosion of Pacino's character is interesting to watch.
-
Wowie good chase scene running over logs in a river.
Three Bad Things About This Movie
- Not enough freaky scenes due to the insomnia.
- Very slow at times.
- The twists were so low key that they could be missed.
All in all I would say it's a good effort from Chris Nolan but I get the
feeling he'll work best in tight spaces. This vast open Alaska scenery seemed to
confine him from the freedom in his own head. I hope in his next flick he'll
work in a box with a few no-name actors.
UPDATE:
Someone sent me the following email. She's right about me being gullible in thinking it was shot in Alaska. For the most part this movie was filmed in British Columbia BUT there was also some filming in Alaska. Including the opening shot which was most impressive. Here's her email along with some more info on the production if you're curious..